LD 

4168 
F3 


UC-NRLF 


OBERLIN: 


Origin, 


awl  *Se$ulto. 


0  BERLIN: 


ITS 


Origin,  i'rogreos  and 


AN  ADDRESS, 


PREPARED   FOR   THE   ALUMNI   OF   OBERLIN   COLLEGE, 
ASSEMBLED  AU<;  :-«0. 


BY  PROF.  J.  H.  FAIRCHILD. 


OBERLIN  : 

BHANKLAND  AND  HARMON  t 
1800. 


0  B  E  E  L  I  N  : 


ITS 


ORIGIN',  PROGRESS  AND  RESULTS. 


A  gathering,  like  the  present,  of  the  Alumni  and  Iri 
Oberlin  College,  affords  a  fit  occasion  for  a  hasty  review  of  the 
origin  and  past  career  of  the  college  and  the  place — how  Ober- 
lin came  to  be,  what  it  has  done  and  what  it  is.  In  tin- 
quarter  of  a  centi  shall  doubtless  find  many  les- 
sons— some  of  gratitude  for  the  good  which  God  hath  wrought, 
some  of  humiliation  for  i  igs,  of  encouragement 
for  success  attending  honest  endeavor,  and  of  wisdom  I'm-  future 
DCe.  I'  :'l  I'md  occasion  for  gruU-ful  mention  ol  tin- 
good  hand  of  God  upon  us,  and  of  wide-spread  re-ulN  from  even 
feeble  efforts,  let  it  not  be  understood  as  an  attempt  at  vainglory- 
ing,  or  exaltation  of  men.  It  is  rare  that  in  any  human  work 
there  is  not  enough  of  imperfection  and  of  error  to  stain  the 
pride  of  human  glory  and  to  show  that  "  he  that  planteth  and  he 
that  watereth"  are  not  to  be  exalted,  but  "God  that  giveth  the 
increas 

OHIQIN. 

The  plan  of  Oberlin  originated  with  Rev.  JOHN  J.  SIIIPIIKKD, 

in  the  year  1832,  while  he  was  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church 

in  Elyria.     Associated  with  him  in  the  development  ol  this  plan 

trt,  formerly  a  missionary  among  tin    (  In  r- 

okees  in  Missi>^ippi,  and  at  that  time  residing  in  Mr.  Shiphrrd's 

family.     They  and  their  wives  prayed  and  talked  together,  and 

prayed  alone,  until  the  work  lay  out   before  iln-m  \\iti  §uch  <\\<- 

tness   that    Mr.    Shipln.-rd   in  after  "lit  with   duo 

o 


modesty  to  refer  to  this  conception  as  the  pattern  shown  him  in 
the  mount,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  "  plan,"  brought  out  in 
his  first  published  circular,  might  be  taken,  in  all  its  leading  fea- 
tures, for  a  description  of  the  college  as  it  stands  to-day — not  that 
all  his  ideas  have  been  realized  minutely,  but  the  prominent  char- 
acteristics are  here  before  us. 

The  plan  involved  a  school,  open  to  both  sexes,  with  various 
departments,  Preparatory,  Teachers',  Collegiate  and  Theologi- 
cal, furnishing  a  substantial  education  at  the  lowest  possible 
rates,  and  with  such  facilities  for  self-support  as  the  "  Manual  La- 
bor System"  was  supposed  to  present.  This  school  was  to  be 
surrounded  by  a  Christian  community,  united  in  the  faith  of  the 
gospel  and  in  self-denying  efforts  to  establish  and  build  up  and 
sustain  the  school.  Families  were  to  be  gathered  from  different 
parts  of  the  land  to  organize  a  community  devoted  to  this  objecl. 
No  new  principle  of  organization  or  of  social  arrangement  was 
proposed  ;  but  those  who  were  ready  to  volunteer  in  the  enter- 
prise were  asked  to  indicate  their  consecration  to  the  work  by 
subscribing  to  the  following  articles  of  agreement,  called  the 
Oberlin  Covenant. 

"  Lamenting  the  degeneracy  of  the  Church  and  the  deplorable  condition  of 
our  perishing  world,  and  ardently  desirous  of  bringing  both  under  the  entire 
influence  of  the  blessed  gospel  of  peace  j  and  viewing  with  peculiar  interest 
the  influence  which  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  must  exert  over  our  nation 
and  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  and  having,  as  we  trust,  in  answer  to  devout 
supplications  been  guided  by  the  counsel  of  the  Lord :  the  undersigned  cov- 
enant together  under  the  name  of  the  Oberlin  Colony,  subject  to  the  follow- 
ing regulations  which  may  be  amended  by  a  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the 
colonists. 

1.  Providence  permitting,  we  engage  as  soon  as  practicable  to  remove  to 
the  Oberlin  Colony,  in  Russia,  Lorain  county,  Ohio,  and  there  to  fix  our  res- 
idence for  the  express  purpose  of  glorifying  God  in  doing  good  to  men  to  the 
extent  of  our  ability. 

2.  We  will  hold  and  manage  our  estates  personally,  but  pledge  as  perfect  a 
community  of  interest,  as  though  we  held  a  community  of  property. 

3.  We  will  hold  in  possession  no  more  property  than  we  believe  we  can 
profitably  manage  for  God,  as  his  faithful  stewards. 

4.  We  will  by^industry,  economy,  and  Christian  self-denial,  obtain  as  much 
as  we  can  above  our  necessary  personal  or  family  expenses,  and  faithfully  ap- 
propriate the  same  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

5.  That  we  may  have  time  and  health  for  the  Lord's  service,  we  will  eat 
only  plain  and  wholesome  food,  renouncing  all  bad  habits,  and  especially  the 
smoking  and  chewing  of  tobacco,  unless  it  is  necessary  as  a  medicine,  and 
deny  ourselves  all  strong  and  unnecessary  drinks,  even  tea  and  coffee,  as  far 
as  practicable,  and  everything  expensive,  that  is  simply  calculated  to  gratify 
the  palate. 

6.  That  we  may  add  to  our  time  and  health,  money,  for  the  service  of  the 


Bounce  all  the  world's  expensive  and  unwholesome  fashio&t 
of  dress,  particularly  tight  dressing  and  ornamental  attire. 

\ud  yet  more  to  increase  our  means  of  serving  Him  who  bought  us  with 
his  blood,  we  will  observe  plainness  and  durability  in  the  construction  of  our 
houses,  furniture,  carriages,  and  all  that  appertains  to  us. 

8.  We  will  strive  continually  to  show  that  we,  as  the  body  of  Christ,  are 
members  one  of  another ;  and  will  while  living  provide  lor  the  widows,  or- 
phans, and  families  of  the  sick  and  needy  as  for  ourselves. 

ke  special  pains  to  educate  all  our  children  thoroughly,  and  to 
train  them  up  in  body,  intellect  and  heart  for  the  service  of  the  Lord. 

10.  \  .at  the  interests  of  the  Oberlin  Institute  are  identified 
with  o-irs,  and  do  what  we  can  to  extend  its  influence  to  our  fallen  nuv. 

11.  \\ .  will  make  special  efforts  to  sustain  the  institutions  of  the  gospel  at 
home  and  among  our  neighbors. 

ill  strive  to  maintain  deep-toned  and  elevated  personal  piet 
u  provoke  each  other  to  love  and  good  works,"  to  live  toge'her  in  all  things  as 

hren,  and  to  glorify  God  in  our  bodies  and  spirits  which  are  his. 
In  t  -timony  of  our  fixed   purpose   thus   to  do,  in   reliance  on   divine 
grace,  we  hereunto  affix  our  names/1 

'.L-S  were  thought  to  serve  the  purpose  of  bringing 
together  families,  devoted  not  only  to  a  common  end,  but  agree- 
ing in  their  views  of  practical  duty  and  in  the  means  of  promoting 
religious  education.  After  a  few  years,  however,  the  Covenant 

;»ainly  laid  aside,  being  found  to  be  too  specific  to  serve  as  a 
general  pledge  of  Christian  purpose,  and  too  general  to  be  a  guide 
to  specific  duty.  It  was  often  more  difficult  in  a  particular  cast 
to  decide  what  the  "  Covenant  "  required,  than  what  were  the 
requirements  of  Christian  benevolence.  It  seemed  more  whole- 
some and  more  conducive  to  Christian  unity  to  shorten  rather 
than  lengthen  either  the  creed  or  the  Covenant. 

The  plan  arranged,  a  name  was  required  for  the  school  and  the 
44  colony."  This  was  borrowed  not  from  Oberlin  the  elegant  schol- 
ar, but  from  Oberlin  the  Swiss  pastor,  representing  in  his  self-de- 
nying and  efficient  life,  that  love  towards  God  and  that  sympathy 
\vith  man  which  the  founders  of  this  school  desired  to  establish 
and  <  here. 

school,  although  sufficiently  grand  in  its  conception  to  be 
called  a  University  according  to  the  modern  Western  fashion, 
was  named  the  "  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,"  which  remn 
its  legal  designation  until  the  name  was  changed  upon  application 
to  the  legislature  in  1S50. 

A  place  was  found  within  the  limits  of  the  county  where  the 
plan  was  formed — a  tract  in  an  unbroken  fon^t,  entirely  unaj'|»n»- 
priated  by  the  early  settlers  of  the  county  in  <  onsequence  of  its 

siting  surface,  lying  on  the  belt  of  cbkywhfehtr* vert*  \<>rth- 


ern  Ohio  from  East  to  West,  destitute  of  springs  and  rocks  and 
hills,  but  with  a  soil  of  sufficient  strength  to  sustain  a  varied  forest. 
The  advantages  of  the  location  were,the  room  it  afforded  entirely 
unoccupied,  its  location  on  the  "  Western  Reserve"  in  the  midst  of 
a  growing  population  just  beginning  to  feel  the  want  of  better 
schools,  having  an  origin  and  antecedents  which  indicated  that 
this  want  would  grow  with  their  growth,  and  the  low  price  of 
the  land ,  which  was  still  held  by  Connecticut  proprietors.  A  por- 
tion of  this  land  three  miles  square  —  nearly  six  thousand  acres  — 
was  purchased  at  the  low  rate  of  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  an  acre, 
and  resold  at  an  advance  of  one  dollar  an  acre,  thus  providing  a 
fand  with  which  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  school.  The  origin- 
al proprietors  donated  to  the  enterprise  about  five  hundred  acres 
in  the  centre  of  the  tract,  for  the  uses  of  the  school.  On  this  por- 
tion the  college  buildings  now  stand,  and  the  entire  south-western 
quarter  of  the  village. 

The  site  selected  for  the  place  has  been  matter  of  frequent  criti- 
cism, and  many  are  still  unreconciled  to  the  choice.  There  is  no 
question  that  Northern  Ohio  presented  many  more  desirable  local- 
ities ;  but  there  was  probably  no  other  where  Oberlin  could  have 
been  built.  Places  could  have  been  found  in  16!20 — excuse  the 
comparison — presenting  a  more  genial  climate  and  soil  than  Plym- 
outh on  the  bleak  New  England  coast,  but  who  would  now  dare 
to  remodel  history  and  direct  the  Mayflower  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Hudson  or  of  the  Savannah?  "The  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser 
than  men." 

The  first"  colonist,"  Peter  P.  Pease,  already  a  resident  of  the 
county,  pitched  his  tent  on  what  is  now  the  south-east  corner  of 
the  college  square,  April  19th,  1833.  Here  the  first  log  cabin  was 
built,  and  here  the  forest  began  to  withdraw.  The  nearest  habita- 
tion at  that  time  was  three  miles  distant.  The  Indian's  hunting 
path  still  traversed  the  forest,  and  the  howl  of  the  wolf  was  heard 
at  night.  To  this  wilderness  the  original  colonists  gathered,  em- 
bracing families  from  several  of  the  New  England  states,  and  from 
New  York  and  Ohio— all  of  New  England  origin.  The  first  sea- 
son, "Oberlin  Hall,"  the  first  college  building,  was  erected,  and  in 
December  of  that  year  the  school  was  opened  under  the  tempora- 
ry care  of  a  student  of  Western  Reserve  College,  J.  F.  Scovill. 
Those  who  were  present  at  the  religious  exercises  which  preceded 


the  opening  of  the  school  still  speak  of  the  occasion  as  one  of  sol* 
emn  interest,  and  the  young  teacher  coming  into  the  place  while 
the  meeting  was  in  progress  and  entering  the  little  chapel,  when 
invited  to  speak,  expressed  in  his  first  words  the  thought  of  all 
present:  kl  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  thy  feet,  for  the  place  where 
thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  The  school  during  this  introduc- 
tory term,  not  yet  permanently  organized,  numbered  forty-four 
pupils  from  the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachu- 
setts, New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Michigan  —  not  chil- 
dren of  the  colonists,  but  young  people  who  on  their  own  account 
had  made  their  way  to  the  school  in  the  wilderness. 

In  May  of  the  next  year,  1834,  the  school  was  regularly  organ- 
ized under  permanent  teachers — Rev.  S.  H.  Waldo  from  Am- 
herst  and  Andover,  James  DascombM.  D.  from  New  Hampshire 
and  the  Dartmouth  Medical  school,  and  Daniel  Branch  from  somo 
eastern  college,  with  their  wives,  all  just  rntrring  upon  active  life, 
lumber  of  pupils  the  first  year  reached  100.   In  October  the 
first  college  class  was  organized,  and  the  first  Commencement 
,  or  rather  a  "Senior  Preparatory  Exhibition  ;"    as  the  per- 
formers were  commencing  Freshmen  instead  of  Bachelors.  Tim 
exercises  of  that  first  Commencement  afforded  Greek  and  Latin 
ons,  a  colloquy  in  which  the  vexed  question  of  the  study  of 
the  "  dead  languages  "  was  settled  upon  an  orthodox  basis,  and 
sundry  dis.jui<itions   treating  of  various  matters  of  literature, 
taste  and  practical  duty — not  one  allusion  to  slavery  or  politics. 
Coming  events  do  not  always  cast  their  shadows  before. 

In  the  winter  of  1834-5  the  Trustees  first  took  their  position 
upon  the  admission  of  colored  students,  and  in  the  spring  the 
Theological  Department  was  organized  and  the  Board  of  In- 
struction enlarged  by  the  accession  of  President  Mahan  and 
Professors  Finney,  Morgan  and  Henry  Cowles.  Theological 
students  came  in  considerable  numbers  from  Lane  Seminary,  and 
the  college  department  received  large  additions  from  Western 
and  other  colleges.  Thus  suddenly  did  the  Institution 
ig  into  complete  and  vigorous  action,  outgrowing  even  the 
sanguine  hopes  of  its  founder;  although  his  expectations  were 
too  broad  to  command  the  confidence  of  careful  and  consider- 
ate men  until  he  had  imparted  to  them  his  own  enthusiasm. 


THE    "  COLONY." 

The  place  kept  pace  in  its  growth  with  the  school.  All  the 
difficulties  encountered  in  the  settlement  of  a  new  country  cov- 
ered with  a  heavy  forest  were  experienced  here,  with  the  excep- 
tion perhaps  of  sickness*  In  the  matter  of  health  the  people 
were  favored  from  the  beginning.  Prevailing  fevers  wrere  nev- 
er added  to  the  heavy  burdens  which  the  early  colonists  were 
called  to  bear.  But  forests  were  to  be  cleared,  houses  built, 
roads  constructed  and  an  unkindly  soil  waited  upon  with  pa- 
tience till  its  stubbornness  should  yield.  To  many,  these  were 
days  of  poverty  and  sometimes  of  misgiving ;  but  in  general 
faith  in  God  and  zeal  in  a  new  enterprise  and  satisfaction  with 
results,  saved  even  the  weary  from  despondency.  The  aim  of 
the  founder  in  planting  the  colony  was  that  it  should  always  re- 
main a  quiet  and  retired  Christian  community,  embracing  the 
school,  sustaining  it  in  all  its  arrangements,  and  admitting  noth- 
ing inconsistent  with  its  interests.  Such  a  community  he  be- 
lieved was  necessary  not  only  for  the  prosperity  of  the  school, 
but  to  illustrate  gospel  principles  in  practical  life.  To  some  ex- 
tent these  ideas  have  doubtless  been  realized.  The  school  has 
been  established  and  has  attained  prosperity  because  the  colony 
has  sustained  and  upheld  it.  Such  a  school  under  the  circum- 
stances, or  under  any  circumstances,  would  have  been  an  impos- 
sibility without  the  support  of  a  sympathising  community.  But 
that  a  people  sustaining  such  relations  to  the  world  without,  as 
the  existence  of  a  large  school  implies,  should  still  be  peculiar 
in  their  habits  and  fashions,  and  permanently  withstand  the  tend- 
ency to  assimilation,  so  as  to  preserve  their  original  simplicity, 
is  a  result  not  to  be  expected*  however  desirable.  God  has  not 
given  to  any  portion  of  his  people  in  these  latter  days  any  such 
power  of  exclusion  or  seclusion.  It  is  Satan's  privilege  to  be 
present  at  every  gathering  of  the  sons  of  God.  The  angel  sen- 
try of  Eden  could  not  exclude  the  tempter,  and  from  that  day 
to  this  no  place  has  been  sacred  from  his  intrusion.  Such  a  con- 
dition of  things  is  sometimes  painful,  but  on  the  whole  is  whole- 
some. It  is  best  that  every  community  should  find  itself  so  link- 
ed with  the  world  as  to  understand  its  wants  and  to  share  its 


9 

trial?.     It  miuht  be  pleasant  for  a  %i  family  to  build  high 

and  to  gi  keep  out 

obligations  and  mutu:  ,  ities  forbid  the  undertaking.   That 

netrical  \ 

i rinks  not  fivm  an  encounter 
j;  it  from  retirement  in  <•!.  ave, 

i  an  opt  Thus  Truth  slio\.  ia  its 

beautiful  proportions,  and  can  lay  out  iu  strength  without 

'  retirement  of  Oberlin  in  the  wilderness  may  have  been 
essential  t<»  its  early  i/  •  .nial.    It 

was  certain)}  i*om  tin.-  public  gaze.    At 

the  outset  no  carriage-road  i 
more  the  devious  ;  rough  ti 

roads,  were  often  impassn' 

ladies  among  •  the 

school  from  t 

tiirough  mud  a; 

theiv  .     But  t  long 

itfl  gathered  here  i 

East  an  .   and  the  South.     '] 

vanced  g  until  it  \\:\*  become  a 

'ants;  and  < 

fares   of    the  country,    finding  its   track   read 
the   clay   belt  of    K-  Ohio,   has   taken   Oberlin    i 

course.      Thus   0  become     liukjd  to    the     \\ 

and 

The  policy*  :  ive  been  "th 

11  in  the  mount,"  has    l>  ,   the  outsit  ;my; 

.     Those  who  wish  the  world  to 
ulil  al. 

.  the  stud  their  ag- 

gressive tend  /  going  out  i  four  miles  to 

temj  *gtt  and  by  gathering  sal 

tute  neighborhoo 

OUt     d  ;         ||j) 

to  love  a  ,  and   th<  night   tli. 

schools   throughout   the  The  next  summer  the  "  big 


10 

Tent "  was  brought  on,  and  a  campaign  of  protracted  meetings 
was  commenced  in  the  region  by  the  President,  aided  by  Theo^ 
Ipgical  students.  The  next  winter  a  bevy  of  Anti-Slavery  lec- 
turers was  let  loose  uppn  the  State.  The  world,  thus  rudely 
disturbed,  in;  turn  intruded  upon;our  quiet,  and  the  idea  of  seclu- 
sion passed  away  as  a.  dream.  The  period  of  rest  has  not  yet' 
corne. 

THE    OBERLIN    CHURCH. 

A  Church  was  organized  in  September  1834  upon  the .  usual 
basis  of  churches  m  Northern  Ohio,  Congregational  in  structure, 
but  connected  with  Presbytery.  The  Confession  of  Faith  set 
forth  the  doctrines  of  God's  Existence  and  Attributes,  the  Divine 
Authority  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Trinity,  Divine  Sovereignty, 
the  Fall,  Total  Depravity,  Atonement,  Regeneration  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  Election^  Perseverance  and  Man's  Free  Agency.  In 
1836  the  church  united  with  several  others  on  the  Reserve,  in  a 
movement  t.o. form  a  Congregational  Association,  and  the  con- 
nection with  Presbytery  was  terminated.  Several  of  the  prom- 
inent men  here,  President  Mahan,  and  Professors  Finney  and 
Morgan,  had  always  been,  Presbyterian  in  their  associations, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  President  Mahan,  were  not  specially 
zealous  in  this  movement.  The  movement  of  the  church  too 
was  not  the  result  of  any  sectarian  impulse,  but  of  the  practical 
want  of  a  freer  Christian  action  in  the  performance  of  its  work. 
At  this  very  time  a  change  was  made  in  its  Confession  of  Faith 
to  adapt  it  to  meet  the  approbation  of  all  evangelical  Christians. 
The  doctrines  of  Election  and  Perseverance  were  omitted,  and 
those  of  Future  Reward  and  Punishment,  and  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath were  added.  The  Covenant  was  also  amended  so  as  to 
give  liberty  in  reference  to  Infant  Baptism.  This  change  was 
made,  not  because  there  were  many  here  who  objected  to  those 
controverted  doctrines,  or  to  infant  baptism,  but  to  preclude  the 
necessity,  of  the  multiplication  of  churches,  and  in  obedience  to 
a  prevailing  conviction  that  any  basis  for  a  church  less  catholic 
than  Christianity  itself  was  unscriptural.  Upon  this  basis  the 
church  has  stood  and  prospered  until  the  present  time,  its  mem- 
bers coming  from  all  the  evangelical  denominations,  and  never 
experiencing -any  want  of  harmony  from  this  diversity  of  ear1 


n 

preposse-  ii>  numbers  increased  from  sixty  at  its  organi- 

i on,  to  one  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  resident  members; 
I  at  length,  the  congregation  becoming  too  large  for  our  spa- 
cious house  of  worship,  a  second  Congregational  church  was  or- 
ganized in  I  :,  a  colony  from  the  old  hive  going  out  with 
reluctance  and  d  I  with  u  benediction.  The  new  church 
stands  upon  the  same  catholic,  basis  with  the  old,  and  opens  its 
doors  t<  '»  receive  Cli  us  the  Lord.  It  numbers 
about  150  members.  At  the  same  time  st  Protestant  Kpiscopal, 
lethodist  Episcopal;  and  a  \Vesleyan  church  have  been  organ- 
ized here  within  two  or  three  years  past,  in  part  because  it 
seemed  to  good  people  abroad  that  so'  large  a  place,  furnishing 
only  a  single  church,  must  be  an  inviting  missionary  field.  l>ut 
there  is  room  for  all ;  each  will  find  its  work.  No  separate  col- 
lege church  was  thought  of  at  the  outset,  nor  has  the  idea  of  n 
separation  between  citizens  and  students  in  their  church  rela- 

.1.  >!•;!: nl  was  pastor  of  the  for  a  single 

year,  1^  resigned  because  his  health  was  not  sufficient 

for  the  work,  and  because  he  felt  called  to  give  1  lie 

establishment  of  other  schools.       In  his  commu;  to  the 

church  conveying  his  resignation,  he  suggested  the  idea  of  unit- 
ing with  the  college  in  calling  a  man  who  should   he   pa<t" 
the  church  and  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology,  but  acMrd   that 
in  his  opinion  the  man  was   not   living  who  coi. 
burden,  and  that  it  ie  better  (o  call  a  i   hut,"  he 

says,  "  wait  until   you!.  the  church 

with  one  arm  a  with  the  othe  lessor  Fin- 

ney  so<  1  the -pastor, hip  with  such  reserv 

as  his  dutir  <chool  and   t«>   the  work  abroad  might  re- 

quire.    TWa  relationship  !  1  until  the  present  time, 

other  members  of  the  acting  in  his  absence,  and  aiding  ' 

him  when  present. 

EABLY    SPIRIT    OF    THE    PLACE. 

>m  the  earliest  days  of  Oherlin  there  has  been  an  earnest- 
ness and  an  energy  of  religious  life   in    the  Church    wi. 
been  the  secret  of  its  power.      This  energy  ai 
shown  not  merely  in  outward  works  and  special  revival  effort!, 


12 

but  in  deep  heart  searchings  and  personal  endeavor  for  higher 
spiritual  attainments.  Oberlin  was  the  offspring  of  the  revivals 
of  1830  '31  and  '32.  The  aggressive  missionary  spirit  which 
resulted  from  that  great  religious  movement  was  the  impulse 
which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Institution  and  the  place. 
The  same  impulse  gathered  here  colonists  and  teachers  and  pu- 
pils. There  was  a  deep  conviction  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
came  that  the  field  was  the  world,  that  the  harvest  was  great 
and  the  laborers  few.  They  were  disposed  not  only  to  "  pray 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  thrust  forth  laborers  into  the  har- 
vest," but  also  to  say,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me."  It  was  no  zeal 
for  partial  reform  which  characterized  the  people  and  the  place 
— it  was  a  broad  view  of  the  world  in  darkness  and  of  the  gos- 
pel as  the  light  from  above.  This  zeal  for  the  gospel  and  con- 
fidence in  its  power  had  been  strengthened  and  intensified  by 
the  experience  of  the  few  preceding  years.  Those  great  revi- 
vals were  often  spoken  of  as  the  dawn  of  the  millenium,  and  the 
conviction  was  fastened  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  gathered 
here  that  there  was  a  special  call  for  faithful  labor  and  special 
encou1  .;ement  in  its  performance.  To  this  conviction  the  par- 
ticular type  of  truth  brought  out  in  those  revivals — man's  moral 
agency,  and  his  immediate  responsibility  for  his  own  salvation 
and  the  salvation  of  others,  had  greatly  contributed.  This  truth, 
then  fresh  and  new  in  the  churches,  gave  birth  to  Oberlin  among 
its  other  results,  and  was  at  the  foundation  of  the  energy  which 
characterized  it.  The  natural  stimulus  of  a  new  enterprise  en- 
hanced this  activity.  The  ultimate  aim  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  young  men  and  women  first  on  the  ground  was  the  foreign 
missionary  field  ;  but  this  work  was  in  the  future,  and  their 
attention  was  turned  to  present  duty.  The  colonists  too, 
though  their  hands  were  full  of  work  incident  to  the  new  set- 
tlement, had  many  thoughts  to  spars  in  reference  to  the  great 
end  of  the  Christian  life.  This  concentration  of  religious  thought 
and  action,  found  no  sufficient  employment  in  outward  move- 
ments. The  whole  ground  of  personal  obligation  in  reference 
to  the  outer  and  the  inner  life  was  thoroughly  traversed.  Ques- 
•.;;!  of  practice  were  reviewed  with  great  ear- 
.uum,  Sv'j.  with  temporary  aberrations 

from  the  path  of  sound  wisdom,  but  always  perhaps  with  some 


13 

valuable  result.  All  this  tended  to  an  intensity  of  religious  life 
which  the  world  has  witnessed  only  at  rare  intervals.  The 
churches  abroad  looked  on  with  m  with  suspicion,  with 

ion,  and  with  here  and  there  a  manifestation  of  sympathy. 
The  phenomenon  was  too  startling  to  invite  to  a  close  examina- 
tion. Good  men  kept  t;  ince  and  called  it  fanaticism 
and  heresy,  and  looked  with  confident  expectation  for  the 

pt    a    tree,    the    irana  >    which 

heresy  and  fanaticism  produce.      Men    not  so  good  not  only 
anticipated  but  discovered  these  outbreaking  evils,  and  the  echoes 
;i3  reports  of  all  sorts  of  enormities  perpetrated  here  have 
scarcely  yet  died  out  in  the  land.      Bad  men  framed  the  stories 
and  good  men  believed  them,  always  with  sorrow,  we  would 
hope;  but  often  the  sigh  was  followed  with  the  self-consoling 
vation  —  "just  as  we  expected."      One  not  entirely  un- 
wholesome result  of  this  was  that  Oberlin  was  hold  un 

>ice  by  friend  cry  careless  or  hasty  e£- 

-ion  of  religious  truth  uttered  at  home  or  abroad,  every  in- 
stance of  immorality  ing  within  the  original  three  miles 
square,  every  outbreak  of  youthti  tion  in  the  school, 
was  trumpeted  and  i  seated  and  exaggerated  until  at 
last  it  ci  of  the  infallible  New  York 
Obsi  '*  the  latent  O^erlinism  " — all,  the  natural  out- 
come of  Oberlin  :  u.  This  fanaticism,  when  calmly  look- 
ed at,  was  no  spirit  of  bitterness,  cursing  those  who  held  <li 
ent  views,  no  claim  of  spiritual  illumination,  setting  aside  the 
sure  word  of  prophecy  and  uttering  its  own  dreams  as  aut 

it  was  an  ear  rit  of  inquiry  in  reference  to  the 

tear!  \Vord,  a  self-denying  application  of  these 

truths  to  practical  life,  and  a  hearty  recommendation  of  them  to 
the  acceptance  of  other-.    It  was  a  fanaticism  that  sent  piv 
ers  of  good  tidings  to  scattered  a  erdless  flocks  on    the 

iries — teachers  of  colored  schools  to  southern  Ohio 
and  to  Can:  <1  u  wlu-re  the  labor  was  abundant  and  the  pay  was 
scorn  —  missionaries  to  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  frozen  North, 
and  of  the  Rocky  M<  it  Islands  and  to  Western 

AlVi'-M.  If  these  people  went  on  their  missions  of  love  without 
any  re  not  careful  to  see 

that  there  was  a  well   est  iety  at  home   to  su 


14 

them,  this  may  have  been  enthusiasm,  or  folly  if  you  please — it 
was  not  fanaticism.  Such  unwise  steps  may  have  resulted  from 
too  great  confidence  in  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching" — and  in 
the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  migkty ;  or  they 
may  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  "  James,  Cephas  and  John, 
who  seemed  to  be  pillars  "  in  the  land,  failed  to  recognize  the 
grace  which  was  given,  and  withheld  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship from  those  whom  God  called  to  go  to  the  gentiles. 

With  all  the  intensity  of  thought  and  action  in  reference  to 
religion  and  practical  morality,  the  various  fanaticisms  which  , 
have  cursed  the  land  during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  have 
scarcely  reached  us  here.      Perfectionists  as  Oberlin  men  were. 
supposed  to  be,  the  fanaticism  of  Perfectionism  -prevailed  .else" 
where — not  here  ;  nor  did  it  go  out  from  among  us.    Abolition-  • 
ists   as   they   were,  the,  Anti-Slavery   fanaticism  and  infidelity 
found  their  headquarters  elsewhere  and  cursed  Oberlin  at  a  dis- 
tance.    The  prophets  of  Second-Ad  ventism  set  Oberlin  off  to  de- 
struction, because  there  were  not  ten  righteous  to  save  the  city- 
All  these,  and  seven  other  spirits,  thought  to  find  here  a  place 
for  themselves,  "  empty,  swept  and  garnished,"     These  all  had 
opportunity  to  show  their  claims,  but  they  preached  "  another 
gospel."     They  were  not  received  into  the  house  nor  bidden 
God-speed. 

The  Oberlin  heresy,  a  shadowy  form  which  has  not  yet  faded 
from  the  imaginations  of  men,  was  a  heresy  that  rejoiced  in  the 
Gospel,  in  "  the  grace  of  God  which  giveth  salvation,"  in  "  the 
cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  by  which  Paul  was  crucified  to 
the  world  and  the  world  to  him,  and  in  those  "  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises,  by  which  we  are  made  partakers  of  the 
divine  nature,  having  escaped  the  corruption  which  is  in  the 
world  through  lust."  Some,  perhaps,  in  the  fresh  joy  of  a  pen- 
tecostal  baptism,  seemed  to  unsympathizing  observers  to  be  full 
of  new  wine ;  yet  if  you  listened  well  you  would  hear  them 
speak  only  "  the  wonderful  works  of  God."  Some  may  have 
shouted  their  eureka  more  loudly  than  wras  becoming,  or  called 
their  experience  by  a  name  that  was  ill  chosen,  or  proposed  a 
theory  for  its  explanation  which  could  not  be  sustained ;  yet  it 
was  a  reproach  to  the  Christianity  of  the  land  that  it  should  be 
thought  a  heresy  to  proclaim  "  the  gospel  of  Christ  the  power 


od  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believes ;"  and  that  a 
etification  which  planted  itself  upon  God's  revealed 

:,  should  have  been  occasion  for  so  persistent  suspicion  and 
dfafc 

nong  the  re-alts  of  this  fervid  religious  action  at  home 
were  many  precious  revivals,  when  daily  recitations  were  sus- 
pended, and  the  power  of  the  Lord  was  present  to  heal.  Even 
a  brief  record  of  these  gracious  visitations  would  be  too  extended 
for  the  present  occasion.  They  have  their  record  in  many 
hearts,  and  the  day  shall  declare  them.  Aside  from  these  special 
seasons,  there  were  often  recurring  cases  of  conversion,  and  of 
grea*  quickening  in  spiritual  life.  Many  received  an  impulse  in 
early  days  which  energized  their  lives,and  has  not  yet  ex- 

teJ  itself.  Some,  perhaps,  gathering  from  their  experience 
too  hasty  inductions,  and  going  out  to  their  work  with  more 
zeal  than  wisdom,  have  found  it  necessary  to  abate  from  their 

ctations.     They  thought  they  had  something  new  to  tell 

ii  the  world  could  but  listen  to.  They  have  ere  this  dis- 
covered that  it  was  only  the  old  gospel  which  the  fathers  knew, 
and  which  has  been  the  hope  of  the  good  in  all  time.  That  par- 
ticular turn  of  the  gospel  kaleidoscope  which  first  revealed  to 
them  its  glories,  may  not  impress  others  as  it  did  themselves,  and 
they  have  learned  to  bring  forth  out  of  their  treasures  things  old 
as  well  as  new.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  gospel  that  it  has  many 
sides,  and  that  at  any  stand-point  it  refle  le  li^ht  upon 

the  soul. 

It  may  be  supposed  by  those  who  were  not  in  the  midst  of 
these  ear!  ai?  piety  of  Oberlin  was  specially  noisy 

and  demonstrative,  as  it  was  fervid  and  engrossing.     Such  an 

ession  would  be  a  mistake.  There  were  instances  indeed 
when  the  forest  or  the  college  hall  echoed  to  a  prayer  which 
was  •ver-loud,  but  these  were  exceptions.  If  the  Toice  of  prayer 
fell  continuously  upon  the  ear  of  one  who  traversed  the  hall  at 

norning  or  the  evening  hour,  it  was  because  the  low  plead- 
ing was  repeated  at  every  door.  The  power  invoked  was  not 

appealed  to  by  the  prophets  of  Baal ;  it  was  the  Lord  God 
of  Klijah. 

In  the  recital  of  these  facts,  I  have  not  undertaken   to  trace 
religious  movement  to  any  one  human  agency.    On 


16 

its  heavenward  side,  it  was  the  coming  of  the  Lord  to  his  tem- 
ple ;  earthward,  it  was  the  united  action  of  believing  hearts, 
Yet  the  inference  would  not  be  warranted  that  all  shared  equally 
in  the  religious  interest,  and  that  there  were  none  who  were 
comparatively  unaffected.  The  religious  element  was  controll- 
ing and  pervading ;  but  there  were  always  individuals  and  fam- 
ilies among  us  whom  it  did  not  reach  ;  and  of  those  who  were 
interested,  some  were  much  more  thoroughly  energized  than 
others.  But  religious  obligation  was  recognized  in  every  move- 
ment ;  and  in  every  gathering,  whether  for  literary,  social  or 
political  purposes,  God's  presence  and  blessing  were  invoked. 
This  habit,  originating  in  those  early  times,  has  come  down  to 
the  present. 

There  has  been  a  somewhat  general  impression  abroad  that 
the  religion  of  Oberlin  in  those  days  was  ascetic  in  its  character, 
and  that  Oberlin  must  have  been  a  dim  and  gloomy  place,  some- 
what after  the  style  of  the  religious  institutions  of  the  middle 
ages.  No  impression  could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Even 
the  Grahamism  which  prevailed  at  one  time  was  not  asceticism. 
It  was  merely  an  attempt  at  applied  Physiology — a  blunder, 
probably ;  but  one  sustained  at  the  time  by  such  authorities  as 
Prof.  Hitchcock  at  Arnh erst,  and  Dr.  Mussey  at  Dartmouth 
The  whole  constitution  of  the  place,  and  its  varied  interests  and 
occupations,  precluded  the  prevalence  of  the  ascetic  type  of  re- 
ligion. It  is  difficult  to  introduce  practical  asceticism  into  an 
institution  embracing  five  hundred  young  people  of  both  sexes 
taken  from  the  middle  classes  in  American  society,  with  aggres- 
sive energy  pervading  their  very  bones,  and  all  the  hopes  and 
plans  of  life  leading  them  on.  They  may  become  vigorous  and 
wholesome  Christian  workers,  but  not  dreamers.  Oberlin  was 
always  a  cheerful  place,  and  there  was  never  a  time  when  a 
hearty,  well-timed  laugh  was  thought  unbecoming  to  Theological 
professor  or  student.  There  were  individual  instances  of  error 
in  this  respect,  and  occasionally  in  a  limited  circle  the  religious 
culture  has  tended  to  an  unwholesome  introspection,  to  the 
dreamy  and  the  mystical ;  but  these  cases  were  exceptional, 
and  scarcely  produced  an  eddy  in  the  great  current  of  thought 
and  feeling.  The  public  religious  instruction  of  the  place  has 
never  led  in  that  direction.  If  a  single  sermon  has  at  times 


17 

looked  mi-ty,  the  next  has  scattered  the  clouds  and  brought  in 
the  sun-li. 

ui  economy  and  simplicity  in  dress  and  style  of  living, 
were  inculcated  in  the  old  Oberlin  Covenant,  and  were  embraced 
in  the  aims  of  tlu  early  settlers.  The  straitened  circumsta: 
of  the  people  contributed  to  the  prevalence  of  these  views.  Yet 
no  extreme  doctrine  was  ever  taught  publicly,  and  no  position 
maintained  which  was  inconsistent  with  a  generous  Christian 
culture,  and  with  a  liberal  estimate  of  the  character  of  others. 
lenial  in  outward  enjoyments  was  held  up,  not  as  a  thing 
to  be  aimed  at  on  its  own  account,  but  as  desirable  only 
saving  of  time  and  strength  and  means  of  Christian  usefulness. 
The  shaping  of  the  place  thus  far  has  been  ordered  rather  by  a 
regard  to  utility  than  to  taste,  not  because  taste  was  discarded, 
but  because  utility  was  more  pressing.  As  the  years  advance, 
we  see  a  change  which,  we  would  hope,  indicates  a  real  improve- 
ment, not  a  drifting  from  the  true  principles  of  efficient  Chris- 
tian life. 

THB    ANTI-SLAVBBY    MOVEMENT. 

The  Air  ry  element  was  not  incorporated  into  theorig- 

ttnstituUon  of  OberUn,  except  as  it  is  implied  in  the  very 
idea  of  a  Christhn  colony  and  school  in  a  1  t;i  i  where  Slavery 
exists.     The  Oberlin  Covenant  was  as  free  from  any  ;n 
the  subject  of  Slavery  as  the  publications  of  the  American  i 
Society  are  supposed  to  be  at  the  present  time.    The  question  \\  a 
not  then  a  practical  one  before  the  people.    The  original  Oberlin 
men,  like  all  good  men  at  the  North,  were  oppose  i  to  Ha  very, 
but  they  did  not  dream  that  this  would  be  one  of  the  first  topics 

li  would  disturb  their  quiet  i.i  tin  wilderne- 
tion  Society  was  supposed  to  present  the  only  practicable  means 
of  operating  ogainst  Slavery;  and  in  a  discussion  which  took  place 
in  the  "  Oberlin  Lyceum"  during  the  first  summer,  it  :ip|.< 
that  teachers,  students  and  colonists  were  all  colon!/ 
•with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Shipherd  himself,  and  two  or  three, 
students   who   had  learned    the  doctrine  of  Abe!  :  Mr. 

Monteith's  school  at  Ely  ,«    prevailing    sentiment 

it  would  never  do  to  "  let  the  ,ong    us." 

Yet  Oberlin  was  in  its  very  birth  a  reformer.      It  was  cast 


18 

out  into  an  unbroken  wilderness,  and  acquired  a  restless  ener- 
gy and  aggressive  habits  in  crowding  back  the  forests  and  cut- 
ting high-ways  to  the  neighboring  towns.  The  conservatism  of 
older  societies,  found  here  no  material  or  scope.  To  pull  down 
the  old  and  build  anew,  was  the  only  work  on  hand.  The  only 
relic  of  antiquity  which  we  have,  is  the  elm  yonder,  under  which 
Fathers  Shipherd  and  Pease  first  knelt  to  pray;  and  that  was 
preserved  simply  as  the  connecting  link  between  the  old  and  the 
new.  There  is  not  a  hillock  or  a  rock  which  would  be  recog- 
nized by  the  hunter  familiar  with  these  wilds.  Everything  is 
new.  Even  the  brook  has  been  compelled  to  take  a  new  chan- 
nel, for  the  convenience  of  those  who  built  upon  its  banks.  The 
men  who  undertook  such  an  enterprise,  were  strongly  impress- 
ed with  the  conviction  that  the  world  was  capable  of  improve- 
ment, and  they  had  strong  faith  that  they  should  live  to  see  it 
move.  It  was  almost  necessary  that  such  a  place  should  be- 
come anti-slavery  when  once  the  issue  was  fairly  made  and  pre- 
sented. This  actually  occurred  in  the  winter  of  1S34-5,  under 
the  following  circumstances :  Lane  Seminary,  a  Theological 
School  near  Cincinnati,  had  been  in  existence  two  or  three  years, 
and  had  collected  a  class  of  students  of  unusual  ability  and  en- 
ergy. Many  of  these  were  from  Oneida  Institute,  a  school 
which  enjoyed  a  few  years  of  vigorous  life  in  Central  New 
York.  They  were  manual  labor  students,  energetic  and  self-re- 
lying. As  an  indication  of  their  spirit,  it  may  be  stated  that, 
in  going  from  Oneida  to  Lane  some  of  them  went  down  the 
Allegheny  and  Ohio  as  hands  on  flat-boats,  and  pocketed  a  hand- 
some purse  to  begin  their  studies  upon  at  Cincinnati.  Among 
these  Oneida  students  was  Theodore  D.  Weld,  a  young  man  of 
surpassing  eloquence  and  logical  powers,  and  of  a  personal  in- 
fluence even  more  fascinating  than  his  eloquence.  I  state  the 
impression  which  I  had  of  him  as  a  boy,  and  it  may  seem  ex- 
travagant ;  but  I  have  seen  crowds  of  bearded  men  held  spell- 
bound by  his  power,  for  hours  together,  and  for  twenty  evenings 
in  succession.  Besides  these  Oneida  students,  there  were  others 
at  Lane,  prominent  actors  in  the  scenes  to  which  I  refer,  some 
of  them  sons  of  slaveholders,  and  linked  to  Slavery  in  all  their 
worldly  interests.  The  whole  number  of  students  there  at  the 
time  was  above  one  hundred.  Many  of  these  were  not  theo- 
logical students,  but  were  connected  with  a  literary  department 


19 

in  preparation  for  theology,  under  the  charge  of  our  own  Prof. 
_':m.     The  Theological  Professors  were  Dr.  Beecher,  the  el- 
der, Prof.  Stowe,  and  another  gentleman  unknown  to  fame. 
About  this  time.  ,  at  least,  as  1833,  the  quiet  of  1 

ton  a  York,  and  some  other  eastern  cities,  had  heendis- 

turbed  by  the  startling  utterances  of  "Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison   and 
iberator.     He  took  issue  at  once  with  the  Colonization  So- 
,  and  called  on  all  honest  men  to  stand  aloof  from  it,  as 
rinciple  and  pernicious  in  it-  results.     He  enforced  the 
of  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation,  as  the  only 
and  safe  course.      "  Slavery  is  a  sin,  and  ought  to  be  im- 
mediately abandoned,"  was  in  those  days  the  burden  of  his  mes- 
sage.    Men  of  strong  anti-slavery  feeling  were  at  once  brought 
over  by  his  facts  and  his  logic.     Weld  too,  in  the  quiet  of  Lane 
Seminary,  was  moved,  and  others  moved  with  him.      The  stu- 
dents requested  of  the  Faculty  the  use  of  the  public  room  occu- 
pied as  a  Chapel,  for  the  discussion  of  Slavery.      The  Faculty 
recommended  quiet — rather  discountenanced  the  discussion,  but 
did  not  prohibit  it.      Tin-  students  gathered  in  the  Chapel, 
for  eighteen  successive  evenings  continued  their  debate.   At  the 

t  there  was  great  diversity  of  sentiment,  but  in  the  en«: 
anti-slav<  d  almost  unanimously.    We  may  well 

suppose  that  the  discussion  would  be  earnest  and  thorough  ;  fm 
there  were  men  there  whose  course  for  life  was  to  turn   upon 
the  result.      It  was  not  like  an  ordinary  discussion  in  a  lit« 
socie  ft  the  main  interest  lies  in  the  debate  itself.     ^ 

of  the  young  men  well  knew  that  the  portion  they  took  might 
alienate  friends,  and  prevent  for  many  years,  perhaps  forever,  a 
return  to  the  home  of  their  youth.  Yet  even  these  were  con- 
vinced, and  took  their  stand  against  Slavery  at  the  sacrifice  of 
friends  and  home. 

As  a  result  of  the  anti-slavery  movement  in  the  Seminary, 
the  young  men  were  stirred  up  to  do  something  for  the  colored 
people  in  the  city.  They  gathered  them  in  Sabbath  schools. 

.1  'd  day  schools  among  them,  and  made  use  of  all  the 
means  at  hand  to  elevate  and   -dvance  them.      Some  of  tli 

:he  city  aided  in  the  establishment  and 
of  the  schools.    The  efforts  were  not  limited  to  tin 
pie.    Communications  were  sent  to  the  religious  journal- .  which 


20 

elicited  spirited  discussions  that  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
city  generally.  Movements  like  these  disturbed  the  quiet  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  some  of  whom  were  wholly  men  of 
commerce,  and  understood  better  the  pork  market  than  the 
management  of  a  literary  institution.  Others  sympathized  in 
the  general  apprehension  of  evil  from  the  anti-slavery  excite- 
ment. 

The  summer  vacation  of  twelve  weeks  came  on,  and  the  pro- 
fessors, with  one  exception,  had  left  for  the  East.  The  students 
too  were  mainly  scattered.  The  Trustees  held  a  meeting  at 
this  juncture,  and  passed  a  law,  without  any  consultation  with 
the  Faculty,  except  the  single  member  who  remained,  prohibit- 
ing the  discussion  of  Slavery  among  the  students,  both  in  pub- 
lic and  in  private.  They  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  communi- 
cate with  each  other  on  the  subject,  even  at  the  table  in  the  Sem- 
inary commons.  At  the  same  time,  the  Trustees  dispatched  a 
message  to  Prof.  Morgan  in  New  York,  that  his  services  were 
no  longer  required.  No  reason  was  assigned  him  for  so  abrupt 
a  terrr.ination  of  his  relations.  Perhaps  they  already  apprehend- 
ed, what  they  soon  realized,  that  his  occupation  was  gone.  But 
in  the  Seminary  it  was  well  understood  that  he  was  sacrificed 
on  account  of  his  sympathy  with  the  anti-slavery  movement. 
The  other  professors  returned  to  swallow,  as  best  they  could,  the 
bitter  pill  which  had  been  prescribed  for  them.  The  students 
returned  to  enter  their  protest  against  the  oppressive  gag-law  of 
the  Trustees,  and  to  ask  dismissions  from  the  institution.  Four- 
fifths  of  them  left  in  a  body,  and  Lane  Seminary  has  to  this  day 
scarce  recovered  from  the  blow. 

The  protesting  students,  upon  the  invitation  of  James  Lud- 
low,  a  gentleman  of  property  who  resided  a  few  miles  from  the 
city,  took  possession  of  a  building  which  he  provided  for  them  ; 
and  for  five  months  they  continued  their  studies  together,  with 
such  instruction  as  they  could  afford  each  other,  and  a  course  of 
lectures  on  Physiology  given  them  by  the  late  Dr.  Bailey,  editor 
of  the  National  Era. 

Arthur  Tappan,  of  New  York,  sent  them  an  offer  of  $5,090 
for  a  building,  and  the  promise  of  a  professorship,  if  they  would 
establish  a  school  under  anti-slavery  influences. 

In   December   of    this  year,  1S34,   Mr.  Shipherd,  who  w 


21 

then  the  principal  financial  agent  of  the  Oberlin  Collegiate  In- 
stitute, visited    Cincinnati    for  the  purpose  of  soliciting   funds. 

re  he  met  Rev.  Asa  Mahan,  who  was  at  the  time  pastor  of 
the  Sixth  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city.  He  had  been  one  of 
the  Trustees  of  Lane  Seminary — had  protested  earnestly  against 
the  action  which  had  been  taken,  and  had  resigned  his  place 
when  he  saw  that  the  majority  would  pass  and  sustain  the  odi- 
ous law  prohibiting  the  discussion  of  Slavery.  He  was  in  sym- 

iy  with  the  protesting  students,  and  between  him  and  Mr. 
Shipherd  the  plan  was  devised  of  adding  at  once  a  Theological 
Department  to  Oberlin,  and  bringing  on  the  seceding  students 

*  Lane  to  constitute  the  first  Theological  classes.    Mr.  Ship- 
herd'  ^is  quickened  by  contact  with  the  ex- 
iluences  there;  and  under  date  ol  P.-.vinber  1,\  1834, 
he  writes,  urging  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Asa  Mahan  as  Pres- 
ident^ind  Rev.  John  Morgan,  Professor  of  Mathematics.      He 

writes:  "  I  desire  you,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Trustees, 
to  secure  the  passage  of  the  following  resolution,  to  wit :  '  Re- 
solved, That  students  shall  be  received  into  this  Institution  irre- 
spective of  color.9  This  should  be  passed  because  it  is  a  right 
;  tin  i  will  bless  us  in  doing  right.  Also  because 
thus  doing  right,  we  gain  the  confidence  of  benevolent  and  able 
men,  who  probably  will  furnish  us  some  thousands.  Moreover, 
Bros.  Mahan  and  Morgan  will  not  accept  our  invitation  unless 
this  ]  rule.  Indeed  if  our  Board  would  violate  right  so 

as  to  reject  youth  of  talent  and  piety  because  they  were  II 
I  should  have  no  heart  to  labor  for  the  upbuilding  of  our  Semi- 
nary, believing  that  the  curse  of  God  would  come  upon  us,  as  it 
has  upon  Lane  Seminary,  for  its  unchristian  abuse  of  the  poor 
slave." 

This  letter  was  addressed  to  the  acting  Secretary,  and  of 
course  was  communicated  to  the  officers  and  teachers  on  the 
ground.  The  doctrine  proposed  was  a  new  one,  and  the  people 

XjiTm  were  not  prepared  to  embrace  it  at  once.  There 
were  no  precedents  in  its  favor.  No  such  thing  had  been  heard 
of  in  the  land,  nor,  so  far  as  they  knew,  in  any  other  land. 
There  was  earnest  discussion  and  intense  excitement.  It  was 
believed  by  many  that  the  place  would  be  at  once  overwlu 
with  colored  students,  and  the  mischiefs  that  would  follow  \\ 


22 

frightful  in  the  extreme.  Men  who  afterwards  stood  manfully 
in  the  anti-slavery  ranks,  when  the  battle  was  hottest,  and 
whose  lives  had  shown  that  they  could  face  duty  in  its  most  for- 
bidding aspects,  were  alarmed  in  view  of  the  unknown  and  un- 
defined evil  which  threatened.  Young  ladies  who  had  come 
from  New  England  to  the  school  in  the  wilderness — young 
ladies  of  unquestioned  refinement  and  goodness,  declared  that  if 
colored  students  were  admitted  to  equal  privileges  in  the  institu- 
tion, they  would  return  to  their  homes,  if  they  had  to  "  wade 
Lake  Erie  "  to  accomplish  it.  These  same  young  ladies,  after- 
wards, showed  their  New  England  spirit,  not  in  wading  Lake 
Erie,  but  in  stemming  a  torrent  of  abuse  and  reproach,  which 
they  encountered  in  their  fearless  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  the 
oppressed.  The  excitement  here  was  intense,  and  was  not  at 
all  allayed  by  an  arrangement  on  the  part  of  the  Trustees  to 
hold  their  session  in  Elyria,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  calmer  at- 
mosphere, more  congenial  to  deliberation.  This  session  was 
held  at  the  Temperance  House  in  Elyria,  on  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary, 1835,  at  the  time  of  the  winter  vacation.  A  petition  was 
presented  to  the  Board,  signed  by  the  principal  colonists,  and  by 
several  students,  who  remained  during  the  vacation.  It  reads 
as  follows : 

'•  To  the  Hon.  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,  assembled 
at  Elyria : 

11  Whereas,  There  has  been,  and  is  now,  among  the  colonists  and  students 
of  the  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,  a  great  exitement  in  their  minds  in  con- 
sequence of  a  resolution  of  Bro.  J.  J.  Sbipherd,  to  be  laid  before  the  Board, 
respecting  the  admission  of  people  of  color  into  the  Institution,  and  also  ot 
the  Board's  meeting  at  Elyria;  now,  your  petitioners,  feeling  a  deep  interest  in 
the  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,  and  feeling  that  every  measure  possible  should 
be  taken  to  quell  the  alarm,  that  there  shall  not  be  a  root  of  bitterness  spring- 
ing up  to  cause  a  division  of  interest  and  feeling,  (for  a  house  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand  ;)  therefore,  your  petitioners  respectfully  request  that  your 
honorable  body  will  meet  at  Oberlin,  that  your  deliberations  may  be  heard 
and  known  on  the  great  and  important  questions  in  contemplation.  We  feel 
for  our  black  brethren — we  feel  to  want  your  counsels  and  instructions;  we 
want  to  know  what  is  duty,  and,  God  assisting  us,  we  will  lay  aside  every 
prejudice,  and  do  as  we  shall  be  led  to  believe  that  God  would  have 
us  to  do." 

Those  who  constituted  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  the  time, 
were  two  or  three  of  them  residents  of  the  place  ;  the  rest 
were  prominent  men  from  the  neighboring  towns,  with  Rev.  John 
Keep,  then  of  Ohio  City,  as  President  of  the  Board.  The  Trus- 
tees were  in  a  state  of  doubt  and  perplexity,  corresponding  with 


23 

the  condition  of  the  petitioners  as  before  presented.  Their  ac- 
tion was  conservative  and  non-committal.  The  record  is  as  fol- 
low 

aereas,  iiiformation  has  been  received  from  Rev.  J.  J.  Shi pherd,  ex- 
pressing a  iay  be  received  into  this  Institution  invspeetivo 
of  color  j  therefore,  resolved,  that  this  Board  do  not  feel  prepared,  till  they 
have  more  deli  iiiation  on  the  subject,  to  give  a  pledge  respect- 
ing th  hey  will  p.  ^ard  to  the  education  of  the  people  of 
color,  wishing  that  this  Institution  should  be  on  the  same  ground  in  respect 
to  the  admission  of  students,  with  other  similar  institutions  of  our  land." 

At  the  same  session  of  the  Trustees,  Pres.  Mahan  and  Prof. 
\vere  appointed,  according  to  the  request  of  Mr.  Ship- 
herd,  although  the  platform  on  which  they  had  placed  them- 
selves was  not  adopted. 

of  the  Board  was  not  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Shipherd, 
and  another  meeting  was  called,  about  six  wet  ,  at  Ober- 

lin.      The  meeting  was  held  in  the  house  north  of  the  College 
square,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Surnner,  then  belonging  to   Mr. 
y  of  the  good  people  of  the  place,  had  by  this 
become  deeply  interested  in  favor  of  the  proposed  move- 
ment, and  the  results  of  this  meeting  were  looked  for  with  in- 
tense interest. 

The  Trustees  convened  in  the  morning,  and  the  discussion 
was  id  long.      Mrs.  Shipherd  was  occupied  with  her 

household  duties,  but,  in  her  anxiety,  she  often  passed  the  door, 
•h  stood  ajar,  and  at  length  stood  before  it.  Father  Keep 
comprehended  the  case,  and  stepped  out  to  inform  her  that  the 
result  of  the  deliberation  was  very  doubtful.  He  greatly  feared 
that  the  opposition  would  prevail.  Mrs.  Shipherd  dropped  her 
work  at  once,  gathered  her  praying  sisters  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  spent  the  time  with  them  in  prayer  until  the  decision  was 
announced.  TJjJM^the  question  was  finally  taken,  the  division 
of  the  Board  \^H|ual,  and  Father  Keep  as  the  presiding  offi- 
cer gave  the  cuKg  vote  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  colored 
;  :nts.  The  resolution  which  at  length  passed  was  not  sim- 
ple and  direct,  like  the  one  proposed  originally  by  Mr.  Sliiphi  id, 
but  i  the  expression  of  timid  men  who  were  afraid  to  say 

preci>cly  what  they  meant.     It  is  as  follows: 

•re  does  exist  in  our  country  an  excitement  in  respect  to  our 
•d  population,  and  fears  are  entertained  that  on  '!<• 
be  left  unprovided  for,  as  to  the  means  of  a  proper  education, and, on  li. 
er,  that  they  will,  in  unsuitable  numbers,  be  introduced  into  our  schools  and 


24 

thus  in  effect  forced  into  the  society  of  the  whites,  and  the  state  of  public 
sentiment  is  such  as  to  require  from  the  Board  some  definite  expression  on 
the  subject  j  therefore,  Resolved,  that  the  education  of  the  people  of  color  is 
a  matter  of  great  interest,  and  should  be  encouraged  and  sustained  in  this 
Institution." 

The  logic  of  the  resolution  is  not  very  luminous,  nor  is  the 
conclusion  entirely  unambiguous,  but  the  effect  was  decisive  and 
unequivocal.  It  determined  the  policy  of  the  Institution  on  the 
question  of  Slavery,  and  no  other  action  has  been  needed  on  the 
subject  from  that  day  to  this.  It  was  a  word  of  invitation  and 
welcome  to  the  colored  man,  as  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  exclu- 
sion which  was  then  dominant  in  the  land.  That  this  decision 
was  regarded  as  involving  grave  consequences,  is  manifest  from 
the  intense  excitement  which  existed  here  at  the  time.  There 
were  no  colored  students  at  the  door  seeking  admittance.  In- 
deed there  was  but  one  colored  person  at  the  time  resident  in 
the  county  ;  but  they  were  very  generally  expected  as  the  re- 
sult of  this  decision,  and  when,  at  length,  a  solitary  colored  man 
was  seen  entering  the  settlement,  a  little  boy,  the  son  of  one  of 
the  Trustees,  ran  to  the  house,  calling  out,  "  they're  coming, 
father — they're  coming  !" 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  when  the  anti-slavery 
action  was  taken,  Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney,  of  New  York  city, 
was  appointed  Professor  of  Theology  —  an  indication  that  the 
Institution  was  not  about  to  devote  itself  to  the  single  idea  of 
opposition  to  Slavery,  but  to  prosecute  this  as  one  part  of  the 
more  comprehensive  work  of  Christian  labor. 

In  the  spring  oi  1835 — twenty-five  years  ago,  Oberlin  receiv- 
ed the  accession  from  Lane.     The  place  was  already  full,  and  a 
building  was  extemporized  for  the  accommodation  of  the  "rebels" 
as  they  were  called.     It  was  one  story  high,  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  feet  long  and  twenty-four  wide,  called  "  Cincinnati 
Hall."      Its  walls,  and  partitions,  and  floors,  were  of  beechen 
boards,  fresh  from  the  mill.      These,  on  the  outside,  were  bat- 
tened with  "slabs,"  retaining  the  bark  of  the  original  tree,  which 
gave  the  building  quite  a  rustic  aspect.     One  end  of  this  "Hall" 
was  fitted  up  as  kitchen  and  dining-room,  for  the  accommodation 
of  "boarders."     The  remainder  of  the  building  was  divided  in- 
to rooms  twelve  feet  square,  delightfully  uniform  in  the  conven- 
iences which  thej  presented  —  a  single  window  and  a  door 


. 

opening  out  upon  the  forest.  Thorough  ventilation  was  se- 
cured, both  summer  and  winter.  Two  students  were  assigned  to 
each  room.  Such  accommodations  may  seem  meagre  now,  but 
they  were  princely  then.  Oberlin  strained  a  poiut,to  give  to 
the  new  comers  a  reception  worthy  of  their  fame.  The  enthu- 
siasm of  a  new  enterprise  lightened  hardships,  and  smoothed 
down  asperities.  All  were  satisfied. 

The  effect  of  this  accession  upon  the  Institution  and  the  place, 
of  course,  decided  and  manifest.     The  school  was  at  once 
transformed  from  a  Collegiate  Institute — as  it  had  been  modest- 
ly called — to  a  University,  embracing  the  same  departments  as 
at    present,   with   students   in  every  stage   of   advancement. 
•e,  the  mi-take  has  olVn  been  made  abroad,  of  attributing 
the  origin  of  Oberlin  to  the  explosion  at  Lane  Seminary.      The 
Collegiate  Department   r  :   considerable  accessions  about 

the  same  time,  from  Western  Reserve  College,  the  Trustees  of 
which  had  been  exercised  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the 
Trustees  of  Lane,  by  the  air  y  zeal  of  Professors  and  stu- 

dents. Thus  Oberlin  incurred  odium  not  only  by  its  anti-slav- 
ery position,  but  by  becoming  an  asylum  for  discontented  stu- 
dents. If  these  students  had  been  such  as  could  well  be 
spared  by  the  schools  from  which  they  came,  the  case  would 
have  been  far  different  ;  but  the  "  glorious  good  fellows  "  of 
Lane,  as  Dr.  Beecher  called  them,  were  well  matched  in  the 
earnest  and  thorough-going  young  men  from  Hudson. 

Such  an  amount  of  anti-slavery  material  thrown  together, 
still  warm  from  the  crucibles  where  it  had  been  elaborated,  of 
course  involved  some  vigorous  effervescence.  There  was  no  in- 
ert matter  present  upon  which  to  act.  Within  the  circle  of  the 
forest  which  bounded  the  vision,  all  was  life  and  animation. 
Anti-slavery  principles  and  facts  were  thm  fresh  and  new. 
They  took  a  strong  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  old  and  young.  They 
were  the  theme  of  private  thought,  of  social  conversation,  and 
of  public  discussion  —  the  burden  of  song  and  of  prayer. 
Fourth-of-July  celebrations  were  transformed  into  ami  slavery 
meetings;  and  the  whole  ground  of  Slavery,  in  it>  relations  to 
morals  and  to  political  economy  —  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Bible — was  traversed  again  and  again. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  famous  year,  just  before  tin   winter  \i 
4 


26 

cation,  Weld  came  among  us,  to  lay  open  the  treasured  of  his 
anti-slavery  magazine  —  to  equip  the  young  warriors  for  their 
winter  campaign;  nnd  more  than  twenty  long,  dark  November 
evenings  he  illuminated  with  the  flashes  of  his  genius  and  pow- 
er. Under  such  influences,  Oberlin  became,  of  course,  thor- 
oughly "  abolitionized."  Students,  and  Faculty,  and  citizens, 
set  themselves  vigorously  about  their  appropriate  work.  But 
the  building  proceeded  much  after  the  fashion  of  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  days  of  Nehemiuh.  Every  man  "  with  one  of 
his  hands  wrought  in  the  work,  and  with  the  other  held  a  wea- 
pon." The  battle  was  not  then  as  now,  between  the  great  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  but  it  was  a  sort  of  guerrilla  warfare, 
brought  home  to  every  man's  door.  It  was  not  uncommon  for 
our  students,  as  they  went  abroad  into  neighboring  towns,  to 
be  assailed  with  abusive  words,  even  when  passing  quietly  along 
the  street;  and  when  they  ventured  to  address  a  public  meeting 
on  the  subject  of  Slavery,  they  sometimes  encountered  rougher 
arguments  than  bitter  words.  Several  of  the  more  advanced 
students  devoted  the  winter  vacations  to  lecturing  on  Slavery, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  original  American  Anti-Slavery  Soci- 
ety. The  mobs  which  they  were  called  to  encounter,  were 
sometimes  amusing,  and  sometimes  terrific.  They  found  warm 
Iriends  wherever  they  went  —  friends  whose  fidelity  was  often 
proved  in  the  hour  of  peril.  There  are  those  among  us  who 
could  tell  some  startling  tales  of  anti-slavery  campaigns.  The 
ruffianism  and  malignity  of  the  Missouri  border  at  a  later  day, 
scnrce  exceeded  the  bitterness  and  mean  hatred  which  anti-slav- 
ery men  encountered  in  many  portions  of  Ohio,  and  of  which 
Oberlin  and  its  students  received  a  double  portion.  The  terri- 
ble mobs  which  sometimes  occurred,  were,  perhaps,  less  annoy- 
ing than  the  low  and  contemptible  abuse,  which  was  matter  of 
almost  daily  experience.  The  schools  which  our  students 
taught,  were  characterized  as  "nigger"  schools — the  churches 
where  they  preached,  were  "  nigger  "  churches.  At  length, 
this  expressive  adjective  was  exchanged  for  the  prefix  "  Oberlin," 
as  embodying  all  that  was  odious  in  abolitionism,  and  pernicious 
in  religious  heresy.  Even  the  guide-boards  at  the  corners  of  the 
highways  pointed  the  finger  of  scorn  at  Oberlin.  Those  that 
undertook,  in  good  faith,  to  direct  the  traveller  to  the  hated 


27 

place,  were  bespattered  with  mud  by  the  street  boys,  or  served 
as  targets  for  older  ones  to  shoot  at.  Those  only  were  left  un- 
molested, which  embodied  the  hatred  of  the  lower  class  of  soci- 
ety. On  the  Middle-Ridge  road,  six  miles  to  the  north,  there 
stood,  at  a  very  recent  day,  a  board  directing  to  ( )berlin,  not  by 
the  ordinary  index  finger,  but  by  a  full-length  picture  of  a  col- 
ored man,  running  with  all  his  might  to  reach  the  place.  The 
A  ay  between  us  and  Elyria,  was  ornamented 
on  its  Oberlin  face  with  the  representation  of  a  fugitive  slave, 
;ied  by  a  tiger.  It  was  meant  as  a  taunt,  but  it  conveyed  a 

tuo  striking  and  too  sad,  to  be  relished  even  !>y  the  mi 
est  negro-hater.     It  wa<  soon  removed.  Such  devices  were  em- 
d  to  render  Oberlin  infamous;  but  it  was  even  th  n  a  mat- 
ter of  doubt  whether  it  \\asbecomingratherinfamousorfamous. 
Oberlin    was,  in  those  days,  a  sort  of  general    depot 

•us  branches  of  the  "  underground  railroad."  The  charter 
of  the  road  allowed,  at  that  time,  only  night  trains.  The  day- 
light system  is  of  more  recent  date.  It  would  be  easy  to  fill  a 
volume  with  incidents  and  adventures  connected  with  this  busi- 
ness. Shrewdness,  and  endurance,  and  firmness,  and  daring,  all 
were  called  into  exercise  on  the  part  of  the  managers  of  these 
excursions.  It  is  true  that  men  \\!,o  valued  their  own  self-re- 
spect or  the  respect  of  others,  would  never  interrupt  or  expose 
a  fugitive  ;  but  there  were  those  in  almost  every  neighborhood 
would  undertake  the  odious  work  for  the  reward  which  was 
offered.  The  fugitives  were  sent  oft*  by  night  to  Cleveland,  or 
i  leston,  or  Huron,  or  Sandusky,  wherever  a  steamboat  or 
vessel  might  be  found,  whose  captain  would  receive  the  contra- 
band goods.  Sometimes  it  was  necessary  to  dispatch  a  load  of 
pretended  fugitives,  to  mislead  those  who  were  on  the  watch, 
and,  when  the  diversion  was  effect  nt  nil'  the  real  fugi- 

,  in  the  opposite  direction.     In  one  instai:  ident  es- 

corted a  colored  man,  attired  and  veil.  uly,on  horseback, 

to  I 

•  •re  is  one  circumstance  upon  which  we  may  look  hack  with 

•  fugitive  was   ever    taken  here  and  returned  to 

1  thi>  nv-uli  has  been  secured  without  an   in  tance 

onal    harm.      An    arn  >t    took    j>! 
some  twenty  years  ago,  at  a  house   on   L  ,  about  a 


2S 

mile  east  from  the  church.  This  house  then  stood  in  the  forest* 
It  was  evening,  and  some  meeting  was  at  the  time  in  progress, 
in  the  College  Chapel,  When  the  alarm  was  given,  crowds  of 
students  and  citizens  turned  out  unarmed,  and  followed  the 
slave-catchers.  They  overtook  them  on  the  State  road,  two  or 
three  miles  to  the  south-east  of  the  village,  and  effectually  in- 
terrupted their  further  progress  for  the  night.  The  slave-catch- 
ers were  induced,  the  next  day,  to  go  to  Elyria,  and  substan- 
tiate their  claim  to  their  victims — a  man  and  a  woman.  They 
failed  to  produce  the  evidence  required,  but  the  trial  was  ad- 
journed, and  the  slaves  were  committed  to  jail.  The  two  Ken- 
tuckians  narrowly  escaped  a  similar  catastrophe,  by  giving  bail 
for  their  appearance  at  court,  on  the  charge  of  house-breaking 
and  threatening  of  life.  Before  the  day  of  trial  carne,  one  of 
these  received  a  summons  to  stand  before  the  "  Judge  of  all  the 
earth."  The  other  returned,  sad  and  dejected,  to  the  double 
trial ;  but  the  slaves  had  broken  jail  and  were  safe,  and  the 
Kentuckian  was  released.  There  was  no  evidence  of  any  help 
to  the  slaves  from  without.  An  inmate  of  the  jail,  a  basket- 
maker,  had  been  furnished  with  the  tools  necessary  to  his  call- 
ing, and  with  these  he  opened  a  passage  for  himself,  and  the 
rest  followed.  It  was  scarcely  more  a  human  plan  than  was 
the  release  of  Peter  by  the  angel. 

The  only  other  "  rescue"  case  which  has  occurred  among  us, 
is  too  recent  to  require  rehearsal.  It  involved  a  more  decided 
human  interposition,  but  was  attended  with  no  harmful  conse- 
quences. 

COLOBED    STUDENTS. 

Oberlin  College  was  never  designed  to  be  a  colored  school ; 
that  is,  to  furnish  facilities  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  wants  of 
the  colored  people  ;  nor  has  there  ever  been  an  effort  on  the 
part  of  its  managers,  so  to  modify  it  as  to  meet  these  wants. 
It  has  aimed  to  offer  to  the  colored  student  one  advantage,  as 
pressing  as  any  other — that  is,  to  the  extent  of  its  influence,  to 
break  down  the  barrier  of  caste,  and  to  elevate  him  to  a  com- 
mon platform  of  intellectual,  social  and  religious  life.  This  re- 
sult, it  aims  to  secure,  by  admitting  him,  without  any  reserva- 
tion or  distinction,  to  all  the  advantages  of  a  school,  having  a 
fair  standing  among  the  Colleges  of  the  land.  Such  a  work,  a 


29 

distinctively  colored  school  could  not  effect.  However  high  its 
literary  character,  it  must  lie  on  the  other  side  of  that  barrier 
of  caste,  which  a  false  system  has  reared  between  the  races. 
To  furnish  such  a  school,  might  be  a  good  work ;  but  it  was  a 
far  more  difficult  task  to  make  a  breach  in  that  division  wall,  to 
found  a  school  in  the  breach  itself,  and  secure  such  influences  as 
that  the  student  from  either  side  should  feel  at  home.  The 
gratifying  success  which  has  attended  the  effort,  is  the  result  of 
a  combination  of  influences,  literary,  social,  and  religious,  the 
ace  of  any  of  which  would  have  caused  a  failure. 

The  first  colored  student  who  entered  the  Institution,  was 
James  Bradley,  from  Cincinnati,  once  a  slave,  brought  here  by 
the  students  from  Lane.  He  was  not  remarkable  as  a  scholar, 
but  had  exdtfd  the  interest  of  those  students,  by  the  simple  pathos 
with  which  he  told  his  tale  of  sorrow.  The  numbers  increased 
for  some  years,  but  for  many  years  past,  the  ratio  has  been  con- 
stantly four  or  five  per  cent.  Ten  young  men  have  taken  a  de- 
gree, and  nine  young  ladies  have  completed  the  "  Ladies' 
Course."  Most  of  those  who  have  graduated,  have  occupied  a 
fair  position  among  their  fellows  in  scholarly  attainment  and 
cultivation.  It  might  be  safe  to  say  of  one  of  them,  that  he 
has  had  no  superior  in  literary  taste,  or  in  ability  as  a  linguist. 
Others  have  excelled  in  other  departments  of  study.  The  work 
accomplished  must  not  be  estimated  by  the  smallness  of  the 
number  of  those  who  have  graduated.  Many  have  taken  a 
partial  course,  and  have  qualified  themselves  for  respectable  po- 
sitions in  the  various  walks  of  life,  and  many  are  now  successful- 
ly employed  as  teachers  of  colored  schools  in  various  parts  of 
the  land.  Only  one  has  completed  the  Theological  course,  and 
he  takes  his  leare  of  the  Institution  to-morrow. 

But  the  indirect  influence  upon  the  elevation  of  the  colored 
race,  can  scarcely  be  over-est:mated.  In  the  twenty-five  years 
past  more  than  ten  thousand  students  have  been  connected  with 
the  Institution,  and  few  of  these  have  been  here  so  short  a  time 
as  not  to  have  their  prejudices  removed,  their  feelings  liberalized, 
and  their  interest  quickened  in  reference  to  the  colored  race. 
To  tliis  result,  no  special  means  have  been  necessary.  They 
meet,  fram  day  to  day,  those  whom  nature  hns  tinged  with  a 
darker  shade  than  themselves,  but  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits, 


30 

cherishing  the  same  aspirations,  gifted  with  the  same  powers? 
and  sharers  in  a  common  destiny.  A  supercilious  air  seems  out 
of  place.  The  lip  that  at  first  curled  with  contempt,  will  at 
length  smile  a  recognition  of  a  common  humanity.  What  men 
most  require  for  the  cultivation  of  a  fellow  feeling,  is  to  look 
each  other  fairly  in  the  face.  So  have  we  found  it  here  ;  and,  of 
the  ten  thousand  who  have  gone  from  among  us,  there  are 
probably  few  that  may  not  be  relied  on  as  the  enemies  of 
oppression,  and  the  friends  of  an  abused  and  neglected  race. 
The  wide-spread  influence  which  these  must  exert  in  the  family, 
in  the  school,  in  the  church  and  in  the  State,  cannot  be  com- 
passed by  human  vision. 

PKEV AILING    OPPOSITION. 

Without  any  wish  to  revive  unpleasant  recollections,  it  may 
still  be  proper  to  ask,  what  was  the  secret  of  that  wide-spread 
odium  which  prevailed  against  the  people  and  the  place  ?  What 
common  impulse  led  men  of  all  classes,  the  good  and  the  bad, 
to  cast  out  the  name  of  Oberlin  as  evil  ?  Was  the  general  con- 
viction that  there  was  unutterable  mischief  here,  merely  an  epi- 
demic illusion,  which  comes  and  goes  no  one  knows  how  or  why  ? 
What  had  Oberlin  done  to  incur  this  prejudice  ? — for  prejudice 
it  was,  persistent  and  cruel,  after  all  due  allowance  for  blunders 
and  follies  here  and  misunderstandings  abroad.  The  first  and 
fundamental  mistake  which  Oberlin  made  was  to  presume  to 
exist  at  all.  The  territory  was  already  appropriated.  Western 
Reserve  College  existed,  and  what  more  natural  than  that  its 
friends  should  claim  for  it  the  rights  of  prior  possession  1  and 
its  friends  were  almost  all  the  prominent  ministers  and  influen- 
tial men  of  Northern  Ohio.  They  had  the  public  ear.  It  was 
trying  to  their  patience  to  see  another  school  established  within 
fifty  miles  of  that  which  they  had  reared,  threatening  to  divide 
the  field  and  to  attract  a  share  of  public  attention  and  patron- 
age. The  anxiety  was  natural  and  the  dissatisfaction  scarcely 
to  be  blamed;  but  it  is  no  proper  excuse  for  injustice.  The  first 
term  of  the  school  here,  in  the  Spring  of  1834,  an  article 
appeared  in  the  "  Ohio  Observer,"  a  paper  published  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Western  Reserve  College,  giving  expression  to 
this  feeling  and  calling  in  question  the  right  of  Oberlin  to  be. 


31 

The  article  was  signed  "  Scrutator,"  and  was  taken  here  as  an 
Uion  of  the  views  of  influential  men.     Nothing  was  farther 
from  the  thought  of  Mr.  Shipherd,  than  an  intentional  opposition 
to  any  school  whatever.     In  his  first  published  circular,  on  the 
_re,  he  says:     "  Being  distinctive  in  its  character, 
it  was  thought  by  the  principal  of  the  nearest  literary  institu- 
iliijli  School,]  to  be  no  more  an  interference  with 
>r  others  in  the  neighborhood  than  if  located  more  remotely, 
not  as  a  competitor  but  as  a  sister  of  all  institutions  of 
i  science."     One  of  the  original  corporators  of  Oberlin 
was  also  a  founder  and  prominent  trustee  of  the  Western  Re- 
College.     He  resigned  his  place  here  in  the  Fall  of  1834 
because,  as  he  remarked,  he  could  not  "  stand  between  two 
fires."    Thus  there  was  a  predisposition  to  look  unfavorably  upon 
;  iin  because  it  was  regarded  as  an  intruder,  a  difficulty  which 
y  school  encounters,  commencing  in  the  vicinity  of  one 
already  existing.   It  has  taken  a  generation  to  allay  the  irritation, 
and  establish  kindly  courtesies  between  Williams  and  Amherst. 
1 1  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  soon  after  the  appointment 
of.  Finney  to  his  chair,  at  Oberlin,  and  before  he  had  vUitrd 
the  |>Lu  istees  of  Western  Reserve  College  tendered  him 

an  appointment  to  the  chair  of  Pastoral  Theology  in  that  ln- 
i,  and  sent  a  deputation  to  meet  him  at  Cleveland,  on  his 
to  Oberlin,  to  turn  his  face  toward^  Hudson.  Failing  to 
see  him,  they  sent  another  deputation  directly  to  Oberlin,  to 
propose  a  transfer  of  the  entire  establishment,  Professors  and 
Student*  in  a  body,  to  Hudson,  showing  that  the  competition 
was  more  dreaded  at  that  time  than  the  fanaticism.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  antagonism  between  the  friends  of  Western 
Reserve  College  and  those  of  Oberlin,  it  may  be  said  in  all  sin- 
cerity that  no  other  than  kindly  feelings  have  ever  been  cher- 
ished here  towards  that  Institution,  and  no  allusion  to  it  has 
ever  been  made  in  the  "  Evangelist"  or  elsewhere,  but  such  as 
was  courteous  and  respectful.  Oberlin  men,  in  common  with 
other  friends  of  Christian  learning,  have  felt  sad  in  view  of  the 
i<:h  rested  upon  it  for  years,  and  rejoice  now  in  its 
returning  prosperity. 

.e  foregone  conviction  against  Oberlin  soon  found  abundant 
occasion  to  justify  itself.     The  absurd  decision  in  reference  to 


32 

colored  students,  was  the  first  evidence  to  conservative  and  pru- 
dent men  that  Oberlin  lacked  good  sense  and  must  be  short- 
lived; and  it  was  on  this  point  that  general  popular  opposition 
first  displayed  itself.  The  next  offence  was  an  ecclesiastical  one, 
that  of  co-operating  in  the  organization  of  a  Congregational 
association,  in  a  region  where,  from  the  earliest  settlement,  only 
Presbyteries  and  the  u  plan  of  union"  had  been  known.  This 
ecclesiastical  arrangement  had  undisturbed  possession  of  the 
territory  ;  and  good  men  who  had  lived  and  labored  among  the 
churches  for  years,  naturally  looked  with  disfavor  and  alarm  upon 
a  movement  which  seemed  to  them  subversive  of  the  general 
harmony.  Gray-headed  and  worthy  men  were  heard  to  say, 
"  We  have  had  peace  here  these  many  years,  and  now  Oberlin 
has  come  in  to  trouble  Israel."  These  men  could  not  see  that 
the  temporary  adjustment  which  had  served  them  so  well, 
must  terminate  by  an  inherent  weakness,  and  that  premonitions 
of  a  convulsion  had  already  appeared.  The  movement  did  not 
originate  at  Oberlin.  Oberlin  served  more  as  a  pivot  upon 
which  the  movement  turned,  than  as  a  force  to  generate  it. 
Here  was  another  point  of  antagonism  with  the  ruling  interests 
of  the  region,  an  occasion  of  misunderstanding  on  the  part  of 
all  with  whom  Oberlin  was  naturally  connected.  How  easy  to 
speak  of  it  as  a  divider  of  the  churches. 

Then  came  the  Theological  heresy  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made,  and  men  who  before  had  wished  that  Oberlin  would  go 
down,  now  felt  it  their  duty  to  put  it  down.  Non-intercourse 
acts  were  passed  by  Evangelical  Conventions  and  Presbyteries, 
and  warnings  against  error  were  addressed  to  the  churches — 
the  greater  and  lesser  excommunication  of  latter  days.  Educa- 
tion and  Missionary  Societies  were  soon  posted  in  reference  to 
heresy  at  Oberlin  ;  and  students  here  asked  for  help  in  vain,  in 
their  preparation  for  the  ministry,  and  offered  their  services  in 
vain  when  they  were  ready  for  the  field.  An  effort  was  made, 
which  was  persevered  in  for  years,  to  write  Oberlin  out  of  the 
fellowship  of  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  churches — to 
represent  it  as  wholly  peculiar  in  its  religious  views  and  as  entitled 
only  to  the  place  of  a  distinct  denomination.  It  seemed  in 
vain  that  Oberlin  declined  to  be  a  distinct  denomination,  and 
protested  against  this  false  position.  Theological  students  went 


to  tli  yteries  embracing  the  churches  \vith  \vhich  they  had 

been  connected  from  childhood,  and  the  pastors  to  whom  they 
had  always  looked  up  as  instructors,  and  asked  for  examination 
izular  form.  They  were  met  with  distrust  and  suspicion 
and  exclusion.  A  committee  of  judicious  men  was  constituted, 
who  asked  them  in  a  private  room,  "  Do  you  believe  in  the 
trine-  '1  in  their  way  of  doing  things  >"  In 

ig  men  expressed  a  \\\<\\  to  be  examined  as  to  their 
id  promised  a  lull  and  frank  statement  of  them.  They 
were  given  to  understand  that  a  general  repudiation  of  Oberlin, 
in  doctrine  and  practice,  was  requisite  as  a  condition  of  examina- 
tion. To  administer  such  a  rebuff  to  young  men  who  had  for 
years  loi  vard  to  the  ministry,  and  who  had  worked  their 

passage  through  a  full  course  of  education  in  preparation  f«-r  it, 
must  have  been  painful  to  good  men.  They  did  not  enjoy  it. 
But  they  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  conviction  that  they 
must  do  it.  It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  reproach  them,  but 

ate  the  intensity  of  the  opposition  which  had  arisen. 
The  educational  influences  of  theci»untr\,  a<  distinguished 
from  the  religious,  were  enlisted  against  Oberlin   by  t! 
sentation  that  sound  and  substantial  education  was  not  aimed  at 
here,  that  the  prescribed  course  of  study  w  ;    defective,  an 
the  actual  performance  was   more   shallow  still.     The    indul- 
gence to  which  a  new  school  is  entiil  not  accorded.     It 
was  not  enough  that  prominent  on  tli 

men  who  had,  in  other  places,  stood  by  the  interests  of  sound 
learnmi: — that  the  Faculty  embraced  tv.  •  ,  one 

from  Yale  and  another  from  Williams,  besides  other  honored 
graduates  of  New  Eng  of  no 

the  course  iced  side  by  side  with  that  of  Yak. 

and  shown  to  be  equal  in  the  amount  of  IhrjuMir  >tudv  afforded. 
The  fact  that  a  few  student-  had  i  ir  Virgils  one  even- 

ing, after  listening  to  a  spirited  discussion  on  the  study  of  the 
•etween   the    1  if  of  tin-   Institution,  then 

just  Professor  oi   I  ,  was  triumphantly 

quoted  as  a  demonstration  of  the  permanent  attitude  of  tin  (  <>I- 
same  young  men  had  j.r.  j-an  d  tin  ir  Ir-Mng  for 
ning,  and  continued,  from  that  day  on,  tl 
rse  of  classical  >tndy.     Th< n    .i^-iin,  Oberli 


34 

and  admitted  them  to  college  privileges  and  honors.  Who  ever 
heard  of  such  a  College?  It  might  be  a  High  School  or  Acad- 
emy— a  "  Collegiate  Institute,"  as  it  styled  itself,  but  never  a 
College;  and  so  Obeiiin  was  voted  not  a  College.  The  society 
for  the  promotion  of  collegiate  education  at  the  West  has  not 
yet  heard  of  Oberlin  College ;  and  scarce  ten  years  have  passed 
since  a  financial  agent  of  Western  Reserve  College,  half  a  score 
of  whose  students  from  the  higher  classes  had  graduated  here 
long  before,  stood  in  the  pulpit  of  a  distinguished  Alumnus  and 
former  Professor  of  Oberlin  College,  and  in  his  presence  corn- 
mended  to  the  audience  the  Institution  he  represented,  as  "  the 
only  college  on  the  Western  Reserve."  A  fact  so  singular  im- 
plies a  general  and  profound  conviction  that  Oberlin  College 
did  not  exist. 

A  combination  of  influences  such  as  these,  united  the  political, 
social,  educational,  ecclesiastical  and  theological  interest*  of  the 
region  against  Oberlin,  and  predisposed  all  classes  to  receive 
any  evil  report  which  might  be  fabricated.  A  renegade  student, 
excommunicated  from  the  Oberlin  Church  for  ir.fidelity,  and 
expelled  from  the  Society  of  Inquiry  for  ribald  and  blasphemous 
language,  who  recently  figured  for  a  brief  term  as  ;i  Democratic 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Oregon,  availed  himself  of  this  readme s-  to  re 
ceive  such  scandal,  and  entertained  the  public  with  a  scurrilous 
pamphlet  called  «•  Oberlin  Unmarked."  That  he  should  choose 
to  gratify  his  spleen  in  that  way  was  not  strange;  but  that  lead- 
ing ministers  of  the  gospel,  men  of  piety  and  good  sense,  within 
twenty-five  miles  of  Oberlin,  should  accept  his  vile  fancies  as 
facts  was  passing  strange. 

This  contempt  for  Oberlin  was  wide-spread,  and  pervaded  the 
entire  region  ;  but  it  did  not  embrace  all.  In  almost  every  neigh- 
borhood there  were  two  parties,  those  who  believed  in  Oberlin, 
and  tlune  who  did  not.  This  line  of  division  traversed  churches, 
and  sometimes  sundered  them.  It  was  of  course  laid  to  the 
charge  of  Oberlin;  but  in  general  Oberlin  had  little  more  to  do 
with  the  division,  than  had  the  suspended  shield  under  which  the 
two  knights  fought  and  fell  to  settle  the  question  whether  it  was 
gold  or  silver.  The  man  or  the  place  may  seem  unfortunate, 
whose  very  presence  tends  to  separate  neighbors  into  two 
classes,  friends  and  foes.  Yet  it  is  true  that  the  friendship  is  the 


35 

more  ardent  which  flourishes  under  such  difficulties  ;  and  Obrrlin 
hnd  its  faithful  and  devoted  fi  lends.  Next  to  IKuvui  itself  tiu-y 
were  its  *'  to\\<  r  _rth." 

In    iicneial,  the  f  Oberlin  wis   to   make    no    reply  to 

x>  fiom  abroad,  and  oiler  no  explanation  of  rnisrepresenta- 

ou«  papers  came,  freighted  with  weighty  communi- 

cations   on   Obeilin,   number  after  number,  from   one  to  seven, 

but   there  was  none   to  answer  nor  any   that   regarded.     The 

only  exception  was  on  a  Dingle  point  of  doctrine.     The  result 

at  length   was   \\  \-.\\   Obeilin    attained   an   immunity   from   such 

The  tales,  whether  I  "  loumled  on  Tact/'  finally 

•  to  be  re,  «  f  no  significance,  and  eea>ed  altogether, 

except  where  the  habit  had   become  inveterate,  as  in  the  case 

perhaps  of  the  ••  Cleveland  1'luindea! 

Ob  ven  of,  as  distinguished  by  a 

degree  of  a^urance   and  self-confidence.     Now  we    hold 

mode>ty   to  be  one  of  the  cardinal  graces  of  character,  and 

nothing  is  more  desirable  than  an  atmosphere  in  which  it  can 

ish;  but  it  required  a  good  decree  of  sel  on  for  an 

Oberlin  man   to  presume  to  live  in  those  days  of  general  iv- 

proach.     What  right  had  he  to  be,  when   the  prevailing  con- 

•n  was  that  he  had  no  right  to  be,  that  he  was  an  intruder, 

•'outside  ihe  |  iiy  organizations,"  political,  eccle- 

r-al,    literary,    social    and    domestic?     With    little   in    the 

ympathy    to   encourafge   him,  he   niu-t   fall 

back  upon   his  own  convictions  and   his  conscious  rectii 

Under  such  on,  back-bone   \\onld    flourish,  even   if 

mod-  ud  fail.      We  may  hope  that  the  gentler  grace  v.  ill 

appear,  since  circumstances  have  become  more  auspicious,     Let 

us  turn  to  more  grateful  matters. 

JOINT    EDUCATION    OF    THE    BSXE8. 

A  Female  Department  was  in  the  original  plan  of  < 'berlin, 
and  young  ladies  have  been  connected  with  the  school  from  the 
beginning,  rmMituting  at  the  outset  more  than  one-third  of  the 
enti;  i.  The  pla'-e  \\ ,  ia  department  occupied  in 

the  mind  of  the  founders  of  the  school  is  indicate  d  in   tin 
•• 

pure  religion,  among  the 


36 

growing  multitudes  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  and  the  means, 
"  primarily  the  thorough  education  of  ministers  and  pious  school 
teachers — secondarily  the  elevation  of  female  character, 
and  thirdly  the  education  of  the  common  people  with  the  higher 
classes,  in  such  a  manner  as  suits  the  nature  of  Republican 
institutions."  The  circular  says  further:  "The  Female  De- 
partment, under  the  supervision  of  a  lady,  will  furnish  instruc- 
tion in  the  useful  branches  taught  in  the  best  female  seminaries ; 
and  its  higher  classes  will  be  permitted  to  enjoy  the  privileges 
of  such  professorships  in  the  Teachers',  Collegiate  and  Theolog- 
ical Departments,  as  shall  best  suit  their  sex  and  prospective 
employment."  It  does  not  appear  that  any  new  philosophy  of 
woman's  rights  or  duties  was  involved  in  this  new  movement 
for  female  education  ;  but  rather  that  old  philosophy  that  "it  is 
not  good  for  man  "  or  woman  "  to  be  alone,"  that  neither  can 
be  elevated  without  the  other,  and  that  their  responsibilities  in 
the  work  of  life,  though  different,  are  equal.  Such  has  been  the 
theory  of  the  institution  from  that  day  to  this,  and  its  aim  has 
been  to  realize  this  idea.  If  a  few  of  those  who  have  gone  out 
from  us  appear  as  the  advocates  of,  what  some  think,  more 
advanced  views,  they  have  never  been  disposed  to  give  Oberlin 
credit  for  their  better  light. 

At  the  beginning,  a  specific  course  of  study  was  prescribed 
for  ladies,  extending  through  four  years,  after  a  good  common 
school  education,  and  was  so  arranged  as  to  run  parallel  with 
the  course  for  young  men  in  the  Preparatory  and  Collegiate 
Departments,  omitting  some  studies  and  adding  others.  The 
ancient  languages  are  omitted,  with  the  exception  of  two  years' 
study  of  the  Latin  ;  French  and  some  other  branches  are  added. 
The  "Ladies'  Course"  embraces  all  the  mathematics  with  one 
slight  exception,  and  the  entire  course  of  Natural  Science, 
Philosophy  and  General  Literature,  pursued  by  the  college  stu- 
dents. This  course  requires  about  a  year  more  time  than  is 
devoted  to  study  in  the  best  female  seminaries. 

It  seems  not  to  have  been  anticipated  that  the  young  ladies 
would  require  the  college  course  ;  but  this  fact  first  appeared  in 
1837,  when  four  were  admitted  to  the  Freshman  class,  three  of 
whom  graduated  in  1841,  and  were  the  first  ladies  who  have 
received  a  literary  degree  from  any  college  in  the  country. 


31 

Within  the  past,  year  the  claim  lor  precedence  in  this  respect 

been  set  forth  for  another  college,  whose  charter  is  yet 
scarcely  ten  years  old.  In  all,  47  ladies  have  completed  the  lull 
college  course  of  study  here,  and  249  have  completed  the  kul'u >>' 
course.  The  number  of  graduates  represents  very  inadequately 
what  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  female  education.  L 

i  -is  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  school  for  a  single 
year  or  more,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  life,  and  have 
been  permanently  helped  thereby.  The  average  proportion  of 
young  ladies  to  the  entire  number  of  students  is,  at  present, 
about  40  per  cent.  The  whole  number  the  first  year  was  44 — 

present  year  about  500. 

A  peculiarity  in  the  constitution  of  the  Female  Department 
here  is,  its  government  by  a  "Ladies'  Board  of  Managers,"  who 
have  the  general  supervision  of  the  young  ladies,  and  attend  to 
all  coses  of  individual  discipline,  where  any  authority  besides 
that  <»f  I  of  the  Department  is  called  for.  The 

Principal  and  an  Assistant  give  their  time  to  the  personal  super- 

:i  of  the  young  ladies,  and  to  their  general  culture,  while  in 
duties  they  fall  into  the  college  classes  correspond- 

viih  their  advancement  in  their  course.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment of  the  government,  seems  best  conformed  to  the  proprieties 
of  their  condition,  and  has  given  satisfactory  results. 

The  attempt  to  bring  the  two  sexes  together,  in  a  school  for 
higher  education,  was  regarded,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  as 

/ardouu  experiment.  Has  the  experiment  been  fairly  tried  ? 
Has  sufficient  time  elapsed  to  judge  of  results?  Have  the  *  it- 
cumstances  of  Oberliu  been  so  peculiar  as  to  preclude  tin 
application  of  our  experience  to  other  cases  ?  In  reference  to 
time,  it  may  be  said  that  institutions  of  learning  grow  old  rapidly. 
Every  four  years,  gives  us  a  new  generation  of  students.  More 

half  a  dozen  generations  have  passed  through  our  Institu- 

in  its  brief  life.     Any  vice  implanted  in  our  social  arrange- 
ments should  have  sprung  up  and  yielded  a  harvest,  in  such  a 
:  no  such  harvest  of  evil  has  appeared  in  tin    In  Di- 
lution, springing  from  this  arrangement.     On  the  contrary,  those 
\vho  have  had  the  responsibility  of  diivrting  the  affairs  of  the 

tution  and  watching  the  tendency  of  things  hav«-  ha  I  con- 
slant  occasion  for  satisfaction  with  the  working  of  the  <\  i.  m. 


39 

But  in  many  respects  our  circumstances  have  been  favorable. 
The  school  has  been  surrounded  with  a  sympathizing  community 
of  intelligent,  Christian  families.     We  have  been  favored  from 
the  outset,  with  the  wisdom  and  experience  and  unrecompensed 
labor  of  educated  Christian  ladies,  who  have  felt  a  maternal 
interest  in  all  that  pertained  to  the  welfare  of  the  young  people. 
There  has  been  a  pervading  religious  sentiment,  powerful  in  the 
direction  of  good  order,  marking  the  entire  history  of  the  In- 
stitution ;  and  last,  not  least,  we  have  been  favored  in  the  class 
of  students  who  have  come  among  us.     To  a  very  large  extent, 
they    have    been    from    pious,    industrious    families,   and    from 
those  parts  of    the  country  distinguished  for    intelligence  and 
good  order.     These  advantages  have  favored  the  experiment. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  our  numbers  have  always  been  very  large, 
and  for  the  last  eight  years,  almost  overwhelming;  precluding 
the  idea  of  such  strict  personal  supervision  as  would  counteract 
the  tendencies  of  a  vicious  system.     Our  anxieties  have   some- 
times been  aroused,  but  our  apprehensions  have  not  been  real- 
ized.    Good   order  has   triumphed.     Again,  among  a  thousand 
young    people,    embracing  representatives  from    almost  every 
State  of  the  Union,  and  from  every  condition  of  society,  there 
must  be  a  number,  more  or  less,  who  are  destitute  of  principle 
and  propense  to  evil.     These,  if  not  restrained   by  our  system 
and  reformed,  must  be  detected  and  eliminated.     In  the  disposal 
of  this  element,  we  seem  to  be  successful.     Nor  is  the  difficulty 
increased   by   this  peculiarity  of  the  system.     To  friends  who 
anxiously  inquire  if  there  are  not  hidden   mischiefs  which  our 
eyes  cannot  reach,  we  can  only  say — look  for  yourselves.     We 
have  been  looking,  these  many  years,  with  that  intentness  of 
vision  which  a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  a  jealous  interest  in 
the  school  must  give.     We  have  seen  things  to  regret,  but  more 
to  rejoice  in  ;  and  find  occasion  every  day  to  congratulate  our- 
selves upon  the  satisfaction    we    a!e  permitted  to  feel  in  our 
work.     If  this    characteristic  of  Oberlin    were  set  aside,   full 
half  the  attractiveness  of  the  work  would  be  lost.     If  any  new 
school  or  college  should  inquire  of  us  in  reference  to  the  matter 
of  joint  education,  we  would    say  without    any  misgiving,  or 
any    particular  inquiry  as  to  circumstances — try   it.     I   speak 
solely  upon  my  own  responsibility,  without  consultation  or  ia- 


3D 

struction ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  I  express  the  unanimous 

-.\  no  nave  uooii  cn^u^cu  i.i  mj  WOl'k  ilc^,  . 

the  beginning  until  now. 

DISCIPLINE    OF    THE    COLLEGE, 

The  discipline  of  the  school  has  had  from  the  beginning  some 
peculiarities.  Circumstances  were  favorable  for  the  initiation 
of  changes  in  the  usual  system  of  college  discipline.  The  stu- 
dents first  gathered  here,  were  not  sent  to  school — they  came. 
They  were  serious-minded,  earnest  young  people,  with  no 
thought  but  to  make  the  most  of  their  time  and  opportunities. 
They  needed  suggestion^  and  instruction — not  much  restraint. 
The  early  students  will  remember  that  for  years  we  had  no 
roll  called  for  recitation — no  marking  for  performance — no 
monitor  to  note  absences  from  public  exercises,  and  no  account 
rendered  in  any  way.  There  were  published  regulations — not 
ed — to  which  all  were  expected  to  conform.  A  high 
degree  of  My  was  maintained  between  Faculty  and  stu- 

.  The  least  advanced  member  of  the  Preparatory  De- 
tree  to  salute  the  President  of  the  Institution  as 
brother,  and  the  salutation  was  accepted  as  sufficiently  respect- 
ful. To  an  outsider,  this  familiarity  sometimes  seemed  shocking. 
He  did  not  apprehend  the  spirit  of  it;  and  because  of  the 
absence  of  certain  formalities  usual  in  colleges — the  lifting  of 
the  hat  and  the  stately  recognition — he  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
tint  the  students  were  lacking  in  genuine  respect  for  their 
teachers.  There  could  be  no  greater  mistake.  The  respect 
and  confidence  were  so  hearty  that  stately  formalities  would 
have  seemed  as  much  out  of  place  as  between  parents  and 
children. 

Such  a  field  afforded  a  good  opportunity  for  dispensing  with 

the  strict  surveillance  of  the  monitorial  and  marking  systems, 

and  making  large  account  of  the  principles  of  confidence,  self- 

ct    and    honor.     The   self- reporting   system   has   been   in 

operation  these  many  years,  each  student  giving  account  of  his 

performance  of  certain  prescribed  duties.     The  appeal  is  made 

s  honor  and  self-respect ;  and  while  these  doubtless  fail  at 

s  the  tendency  of  the  system  is  not  to  break  them  down. 

not  considered  smart  to  give  a  false  report  of  attendance 


40 

upon  prayers  and  public  worship,  as  it  is  wont  to  be  to  evade  the 
observation  of  a  monitor,  or  deceive  an  obnoxious  tutor.  The 
past  eight  years,  a  record  has  been  kept  by  each  teacher  of  the 
performance  in  recitation — not  for  the  purpose  of  grading  or 
indicating  the  standing  in  any  public  way,  but  for  the  more 
exact  information  of  teacher  and  pupil,  giving  each  an  opportu- 
nity, as  surveyors  say,  for  back-sight  and  fore-sight. 

The  cases  of  individual  discipline  among  us  have  always  been 
surprisingly  few,  and  are  mostly  confined  to  the  Preparatory 
Department,  which  almost  all  new-comers  enter.  More  than 
ten  years  have  elapsed  since  a  student  has  been  expelled  or 
dismissed,  in  the  way  of  discipline,  from  any  of  the  college  classes. 
The  average  number  of  college  students  during  that  time  has 
been  109,  and  stands  now  at  181.  About  eight  years  ago  the 
number  of  students  in  the  Institution  rose,  in  a  single  year,  from 
571  to  1020,  and  the  next  year  to  1305,  and  since  that  time  has 
averaged  more  than  1200  yearly;  yet  there  has  been  no  corres- 
ponding increase  in  the  number  of  cases  of  discipline.  A  more 
thorough  system  of  supervision  has  been  secured,  and  all  opera- 
tions are  more  completely  systematized;  but  the  time  spent  by 
the  Faculty  upon  cases,  has  not  been  perceptibly  increased. 

There  are  many  influences  which  conduce  to  good  order;  and 
among  these  I  would  mention,  first,  the  sense  of  responsibility 
which  attaches  to  each  pupil,  to  maintain  his  good  name.  Our 
college  community  is  not  so  secluded  that  a  student  can  have  a 
college  reputation,  as  distinct  from  his  reputation  in  general 
society.  The  presence  of  both  sexes  in  the  school,  does  much 
to  secure  this  result.  Few  of  the  hundreds  here  will  ever  find 
a  place  where  their  personal  reputation  will  seem  of  more  value 
to  them,  than  at  present.  If  they  ever  intend  that  a  good  name 
shall  forward  their  interests,  this  is  the  time  and  the  place.  It 
is  difficult  to  over-estimate  this  force. 

Then  again,  the  interest  which  has  always  prevailed  in  the 
school,  in  questions  of  moment  in  the  outer  world,  such  as 
slavery  and  politics,  has  been  favorable.  The  intellectual  activity, 
generated  in  a  large  school,  must  have  an  object,  and  if  nothing 
worthy  and  elevated  is  afforded,  it  will  fasten  upon  things  trivial 
or  degrading.  It  seems  eminently  fit  that  youth,  in  process 
of  education,  should  ponder  and  form  opinions  upon  the  great 


41 

moral  and  political  questions  which  agitate  the  world.  Even 
erroneous  and  partial  opinions  are  better  than  indifference- 
tide  such  questions  from  a  school,  and  other  questions  \vill 
be  raised,  unworthy  of  attention.  College  politics  take  the 
place  of  general  politics,  and  the  question — who  shall  be  Pr 
dent  of  a  itenser  feeling,  than  who 

:lent  of  the  Republic.  These  graver  questions  are, 
by  some,  thought  to  pioduce  unwholesome  excitements  in 
schools,  but  the  enthu-ia^in  which  they  call  out  is  a  generous 
emotion,  not  like  the  \  1  contemptible  strifes  which  some- 

times agitate  the  college  community.  The  spirit  begotten  is 
elevated  and  manly,  and  conduces  to  an  elevated  arid  worthy 
character.  In  thi  respect  we  have  been  favored.  Questions 
of  serious  and  weighty  interest,  of  right  and  wrong,  pertaining 
to  the  duties  of  the  government  and  the  rights  of  citizens,  have 
been  thrust  upon  us,  in  such  practical  forms  as  compelled  thought 
and  action.  We  have  needed  no  artificial  employment  of  our 
activities.  All  this  has  tended  to  good  order.  Small  matters 
become  occasions  of  excitement  and  rebellion  in  colleges.  It 
would  often  seem  that  the  less  the  occasion,  the  more  intense 
the  feeling.  But  these  small  matters  are  excluded  by  greater. 
We  have  never  had  a  rebellion  here,  not  from  the  absence  of 
:  and  excitability,  but  from  the  presence  of  worthier  objects. 
Still  another  feature  in  our  colltL  employment 

of  so  large  a  number  of  the  more  advanced  and  influential 
students,  as  teachers  of  the  classes  in  the  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment. This  arrangement  is  valuable  in  many  ways.  It  secures 
to  the  student  a  desirable  means  of  discipline  and  culture;  an 
arrangement,  according  to  Sir  William  Hamilton,  essential  to 
the  best  system  of  education.  It  furnishes  substantial  material 
aid  to  many  who,  without  such  resource,  would  be  straitened  for 
means  to  pursue  stuHy.  It  secures  to  the  Institution,  instruction 
of  a  high  character,  at  rates  lower  than  are  paid  in  common 
schools,  thus  greatly  reducing  the  price  of  tuition  to  the  pupil. 
But  beyond  this,  it  is  a  disciplinary  arrangement  of  immense 
value,  bringing  a  large  number  of  leading  student,  into  the 
double  relation  of  teachers  and  pupils.  Thus  a  link  is  estab- 
lished between  Faculty  and  students,  which  » nal.lcs  them  better 
understand  and  appreciate  each  other ;  and  thus  the  go\ 
6 


42 

ment  is  brought,  in  the  least  offensive  way,  into  immediate 
contact  with  the  mass  of  the  students.  These  teachers  have  no 
authority  out  of  the  recitation  room,  but  they  are  a  powerful 
influence  on  the  side  of  good  order. 

While  the  general  outcome  of  our  system  of  discipline  is  thus 
satisfactory,  it  must  not  he  supposed  that  it  is  in  all  cases 
successful,  and  that  there  are  not  instances  in  which  the  aims  of 
teachers  are  frustrated,  and  the  hopes  of  parents  and  friends 
disappointed.  There  is  no  complete  immunity  from  temptation 
in  Oberlin,  and  has  never  been.  Those  who  are  propense  to 
evil  company  have  always  been  able  to  find  it ;  and  those  to 
whom  a  direct,  vigilant  oversight  is  essential,  are  not  likely  to 
prosper  here.  But  many  who  would  resist  such  supervision, 
and  deteriorate  under  it,  are  found  susceptible  to  more  generous 
motives,  and  make  rapid  progress. 

THE    MANUAL    LABOK    SYSTEM. 

The  early  students  and  friends  of  Oberlin  often  inquire  with 
anxiety  in  reference  to  the  manual  labor  feature  of  the  school. 
Has  it  been  a  success  or  a  failure?     The  true  answer  would 
probably  be — neither,  but  rather  a  mixture  of  the  two.     The 
expectations  of  the  founders  of  the   school  were  very  sanguine 
in  reference  to  the  results  of  manual  labor.     Mr.  Shipherd  was 
accustomed  to   express   the  conviction  that  an   investment   of 
$150,  in  buildings,  apparatus  and  other  equipments,  would  afford 
a  perpetual  foundation  for  a  single  student,  so  that  he  would  be 
able   to    defray  the   entire   expense   of  his   course,  and   his  suc- 
cessors after  him  forever,  by  four  hours'  daily  labor.     This  was 
the   idea  of  the  original  "Oberlin  Scholarship,"  which  was  in 
the  early  days  the  source  of  some  misunderstandings.     It  guar- 
antied nothing  but  the  privilege  of  staying  here,  and  enjoying 
'hv3   advantages    for    learning    and    for    labor,  upon   condition 
of    paying    for    them ;    but    it    was   expected    that    the    labor 
would  pay.     No  such  pledge,  however,  was  given.     The  pur- 
chaser of  the  scholarship  was   expected   to   invest  his  money 
upon  the  ground  of  faith  in  the  system.     Pecuniary  results  were 
not  the  only,  nor  the  prime  aim  of  the  manual  labor  system. 
The  original  circular  which  sets  forth  the  "  plan,"  contains  the 
following  paragraph :     "This  Department  is  considered  indis- 


' 


43 

pensable  to  a  complete  education.     It  is  denned,  first,  to  pre- 
serve the  student's  health.     For  this  purpose  all  of  both  sexes, 

and  poor,  are  required  to  labor  four  hours  daily.  There 
bein^r  an  intimate  sympathy  between  soul  and  body,  their  labor 
promotes,  as  a  second  object,  clear  and  strong  thought  ami  a 
happy  moral  temperament.  A  third  object  of  this  system  is  its 
pecuniar  rages.  For  while  taking  ih.it 

to  health,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  student's  ma\ 

be  defrayed.     This  system,  as  a  tourtn  object,  a'uU  esstttfta) 
forming  habits  of  industry  and  economy;  a  fifth 

Mm  an  acquaintance  with  common  tilings.     1 
meets  the  wants  of  m  compound  being,  and  ibe 

common  and  an  aste  of  money,  time,  health  and  li 

To  carry  out  this   -  .         institution  farm  of  800  acre^ 

was  secured,  a  steam  engine,  with  mills  and  othe 

put  in  operation,  and  a  \\  <  :  k-shop  erected 

tools.     At  a  given  hour  the  manual  labor  \  rung, 

and  the  students  repaired  to  their  four  hours'  work — son 
the  mills,  others  to  the  shop,  and  the  remainder  to  the  fields  or 
forest.     The   young   ladies    performed    domestic  labor   in    the 
Boarding  Hall.     The  prices  paid,  ranged  from  four  to  seven 
cents  per  hour  for  young  men,  ig  ladies,  three  to 

cents.     Board,  at  the  same  t 

.      The 

lar  of  the  uvst  year  adds,  in  a  closing  paragr  [>h:  "The 
testimony  of  one  .  that  students  by  (bur  i 

labor,  may   preserve   their  health,  clear  and   invigorate 
their  minds,  guard  against  morbid  inil  am    tin -ir  ! 

and  yet  facilitate ,  instead  of  retardmir,  their 

attainments.     Ti 
the  most  deficient  in  mental  labor." 

ie  second  year,  the  nu 
three    fold,   although    "more    than    half    the    application 

.''     The   c  •  of  thi^ 

that  "students,  1  i»j  and    \  id    in   all  th 

ments,  are  expected  to  la;  '     The  n 

'».    tbe    numbers   still    i 

rrtd  to  1   to 


44 

the  Grand  Kiver  Institute,  and  the  Elyria  High  School.  The 
catalogue  for  this  year  announces  that  "  nearly  all  the  young 
ladies,  and  a  majority  of  the  young  gentlemen,  have  paid  their 
board  by  their  manual  labor."  Three  hours'  daily  labor  was 
still  required. 

The  Institution  was  too  poor  to  publish  a  catalogue  in  1837. 
The  catalogue  of  1838  says  :  "At  present  no  pledge  can  be 
given  that  the  Institute  will  furnish  labor  to  all  the  students  ; 
but  hitherto  nearly  all  have  been  able  to  obtain  employment 
from  either  the  Institute  or  Colonists.  It  is  thought  that  the 
same  facilities  for  available  labor  will  be  continued."  Of  course 
when  the  ability  to  furnish  labor  failed,  the  requirement  to  labor 
passed  into  a  recommedation.  From  that  day  to  this,  the  Insti- 
tution has  held  out  no  pledge  to  furnish  labor,  and  of  course 
the  requirement  has  never  been  revived.  The  present  announce- 
ment on  the  subject  of  manual  labor  is  as  follows:  "The 
Institution  does  not  pledge  itself  to  furnish  labor  for  the  stu- 
dents;  but  arrangements  have  been  made  with  those  who  lease 
the  lands  of  the  college,  to  furnish  employment  to  a  certain 
extent.  The  college  also  gives  employment  to  a  few  around 
the  buildings.  Diligent  and  faithful  young  men  can  usually 
obtain  sufficient  employment  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  village, 
every  facility  being  afforded  by  the  college  to  give  students  an 
opportunity  of  laboring.  Many,  by  daily  labor,  have  been  able 
to  pay  their  board.  Others  have  not  been  able  to  do  this,  while 
others  still  have  paid  their  board,  washing  and  room-rent." 
This  is  certainly  a  letting  down  from  the  first  announcement. 
The  manual  labor  system  could  not  stand  here  upon  the  plan 
first  adopted.  Some  of  the  difficulties  were  inherent  in  the 
plan  itself,  and  some  perhaps  in  our  particular  situation.  The 
expense  of  the  manual  labor  system,  as  first  ar ringed,  was  almost 
overwhelming.  The  amount  of  superintendence  required  for 
students,  employed  either  on  the  farm  or  in  shops,  is  vastly 
greater  than  for  the  same  amount  of  labor  under  other 
circumstances.  A  student  working  his  three  hours  a  day, 
require*  twice  the  oversight  needed  for  a  laborer  working  con- 
tinuously, in  the  same  employment.  The  time  he  gives  to  labor 
is  n<-  to  enlist  his  interest.  His  hearr  ;  \vheiv  II'LS 

treasure  i.s— not  in  his  work.     He  drops  his  implements  when 


4* 

the  hour  of  release  from  labor  comes,  and  gives  no  more  thought 
to  the  work  until  he  is  summoned  to  it  again.  To  carry  on  a 
farm  with  such  labor,  is  out  of  the  question,  and  it  is  almost  as 
difficult  to  conduct  any  systematic  operations.  Then  the  soil 
here  was  specially  ill  adapted  to  management  by  such  labor. 
It  requires  to  be  treated  with  the  utmost  consideration — moved 
at  the  ri^ht  time  and  in  the  right  manner ;  handled  otherwise,  it 

ticularly  obuinate.  Repeated  efforts  were  made  to  secure 
labor  in  such  forms  as  would  be  suitable  to  students.  During 
the  time  of  the  silk-worm  mania,  in  Ib36,  a  large  expenditure 

(node  for  mulberry  trees,  and  the  entire  force  of  young  men 
turned  out  day  after  day  to  plant  them.  There  are  still  stand- 
ing, back  of  the  Laboratory,  a  few  relics  of  the  old  mulberry 
plantation;  but  not  a  cocoon  was  ever  spun  upon  the  farm. 
Excellent  farmers  and  superintendents  of  manual  labor  were 
employed — men  whose  hearts  were  in  the  work;  but  it  would 
not  do.  The  wheat  and  corn  raised,  even  when  there  was  a 
successful  crop,  cost  twice  the  market  price.  The  same  difficulty 
was  found  in  the  shop.  The  superintendence  cost  more  than 
the  outcome  of  all  the  labor.  From  absolute  compulsion,  the 
enterprise  in  this  form  was  abandoned,  and  the  lands  were  leased 
to  permanent  occupants,  who  engage  to  furnish  employment  to 
students,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  land  they  occupy. 
The  families  occupying  these  lands,  require  and  secure  more 
students9  labor  than  could  be  provided  for  on  these  lands  as  an 
Institution  farm.  The  young  ladies  of  the  Boarding  Hall  have 
always  performed  a  large  portion  of  the  domestic  labor  required 
there.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  wo  have  not  realized  the  high 
ideal  of  a  manual  labor  school  which  was  indulged  at  the 
beginning.  The  spirit  of  labor  has  been  cherished  here,  and 
work  has  always  been  held  in  honor.  "  Learning  and  Labor," 
is  the  motto  of  the  college  seal,  an  i  a  large  proportion  of  our 
students  rely  upon  their  own  exertions  for  support,  realizing 
more  however  from  winter  teaching  than  from  summer  work, 
The  concentration  of  vacations  upon  ih«  winter  months,  pro\ 
successfully  for  such  occi  ,  rrangement  has  been 

thought  unfavorable  to  the  best  results  in    t  i  ly,  ("it  it  i<  e^-ntial 

ur  stuHents,  and  has  many  ndvu<  unenJ  it. 

Some  other  schools  have  adopted  the  plan. 


46 


STUDY    AND    LITEBAKY    CULTUBE. 

Oberlin  College  was  not  established  with  the  idea  of  a  less 
extended  or  less  thorough  course  of  education,  than  was  common 
in  other  colleges  ;  nor  has  any  such  idea  obtained  currency  here 
at  any  time.  The  first  announcement  on  the  subject  is  as  follows : 
"  The  Collegiate  Department  will  afford  as  extensive  and  thor- 
ough a  course  of  instruction  as  other  colleges ;  varying  from 
some  by  substituting  Hebrew  and  sacred  classics,  for  the  most 
objectionable  Pagan  authors."  The  first  college  class,  entering 
Freshman  in  1834,  was  well  prepared,  and  would  have  been 
received  at  any  college  in  the  land.  Similar  preparation  has 
always  been  insisted  on,  and  a  course  pursued  coinciding  in  all 
essential  points  with  that  established  in  American  colleges- 
comprising  the  usual  amount  of  Languages,  Mathematics,  Na- 
tural Science,  Belles  Lettres  and  Philosophy.  The  ancient 
authors  which  were  introduced  at  the  beginning,  were  Cicero, 
Tacitus,  Xenophon,  Plato,  Demosthenes,  Sophocles,  and  .^Eschy- 
lus.  Instead  of  Horace,  Buchanan's  Psalms  were  prescribed, 
but  never  used,  because  the  book  was  out  of  print ;  and  we  had 
a  taste  of  modern  Latin,  in  Grotius  de  Veritate.  The  study  of 
the  Hebrew  took  a  prominent  place,  inaugurated  the  second 
year  by  a  four  months'  visit  from  Seixas,  a  celebrated  teacher 
of  Hebrew.  His  classes  here  numbered  127  pupils  in  the  aggre- 
gate, arid  the  entire  Institution  seemed  likely  to  become  Hebra- 
ized; but  the  tide  ebbed  and  left  the  Hebrew,  for  many  years,  in 
the  last  four  terms  of  the  college  course.  At  length  so  distinct 
a  peculiarity  was  found  to  produce  inconvenience.  A  student 
coming  from  another  college  to  enter  here,  was  out  of  joint 
with  our  course,  and  our  students  going  abroad  were  equally 
out  of  joint.  The  Hebrew  has  at  length  been  dropped,  and  is 
taught  only  in  the  Theological  Department. 

Another  specialty  in  the  Oberlin  course,  was  the  prominence 
early  given  to  Mental  Science  and  Metaphysical  studies.  This 
was  due  mainly  to  the  influence  of  President  Mahan,  whose 
ta  tes  and  culture  led  him  in  that  direction  It  was  also  ue  in 
pail  t>  the  fuc-%  that  Oberlin  was  a  so  t  of  ,V  ist  rn  cen  -  of 
the  New  School  Theology  ;  and  Theological  discussion  naturally 


9 

Jed  to  the  preliminary  investigations  in   Mental  Science.     The 

room   i  ,   or 

ast  for  apparent  discovery;  and   this  was   a  stimulus  to 

enthusiasm.    The  other  departments  of  study  were  maintained 

.   and  even   the  Ancient  Languages  were 

studied  a  as  they  have  been  in  any  western  college; 

tie  general  enthusiasm  centered  about  the  Phi,,  and 

•logical  studies  of   the  course.     The  early  students   will 

•    interest  the  entire   Institution  attended 

upon  an  extended  discussion  of  the  fundamental   principles  of 

i  the  old  Chapel,  between  President  Mahan,  a 

stern  advocate  of  the  "theory  of  intrinsic  ultimate  lightness  as 

the  found  obligation,"  on  one  side,  and  Professor  John 

P.  Cowles,  a  keen  and  able  champion  of  the  New  Haven  doc- 

p,   with    i'r«-i<lt'iit    Kiunry   in    the 
uder  such  a  heat  that  President  Finney  elabo- 
rated his  own  views  of  the  foundation  of  obligation,  embodying 
u   the  truth  from  both  the  opposing  theories,  and 
nating  what  was  day  a  similar  prominence 

has  been  given  to  philosophical  studies ;  but  that  the  old  enthu- 
siasm should  survive  in  all  its  force,  was  not  in  the  nature  of 
things.  The  interest  has  increased  in  other  departments  of  study, 
in  general  literature;  thus  affording  a  more  symmetrical, 
perhaps  not  a  more  vigorous  culture. 

It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  authorities  of  the  college  to  make 
the  entire  course  subservient  to  a  broad  and  generous  Christian 
culture,  pi-icing  the  Bible  in  the  centre,  and  making  all  studies 
contribute  to  it.  This  has  seemed  better  than  to  displace  all 
studies  by  the  Bible.  In  the  literary  course,  the  entire 
New  Te-  '*  read  in  the  original,  and  a  weekly  lesson  is 

;i  in  the  English  Old  Testa  m m.     All  departments  of  the 
tution  are  in  vigorous  operation.     In  the  Theological  De- 
number  of  students,  though  small,  is  greater  than 
at  any  time  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  and  in  the  other  depart- 
ments greater  than  at  any  other  time. 


BUILDINGS. 

To  the  multitudes  of  new-comers,  new  and  better  buildings 
seem  very  desirable,  and  the  want  is  indeed  a  pressing  one—- 
when or  how  to  be  met,  we  cannot  foresee.  Yet  to  the  early 
students,  some  of  whom  are  gathered  here  for  the  first  time  in 
many  years,  the  old  buildings  have  a  charm  which  cannot  be 
transferred  to  new  or  better  buildings.  Each  hall,  each  room 
has  a  history,  unwritten  indeed,  but  never  to  be  forgotten* 
Battered  and  weather-beaten  as  the  old  buildings  are,  many  a 
heart  would  feel  a  pang  to  see  them  so  transformed  as  to  rob 
them  of  their  identity;  yet  such  changes  have  already  befallen 
some  of  them,  and  in  the  course  of  nature  must  come  to  the 
rest. 

The  oldest  building  is  Oberlin  Hall,  erected  in  1833  to  receive 
the  expected  school — about  forty  feet  square,  two  full  stories, 
with  a  peculiar  third  story,  called  the  "attic."  This  building 
contained  the  germ  of  the  entire  establishment  nearly  two 
years.  It  embraced  Boarding  Hall,  Chapel,  Meeting-House, 
School-Rooms,  College  Office,  Professors'  quarters,  and  private 
rooms  for  about  forty  students — that  same  attic  story,  with  its 
hall  four  feet  in  width,  receiving  twenty  young  men,  giving  to 
each  pair  a  room  eight  feet  square,  wilh  a  single  window  of 
six  common  lights.  No  hive  of  bees,  just  before  swarming 
time,  was  ever  more  full  of  life  and  activity  than  was  Oberlin 
Hall  in  1834-5.  It  would  puzzle  a  student  of  that  time  to 
recognize  the  building  to-day.  More  than  twenty  years  ago, 
the  attic  gave  place  to  a  full  story,  thus  robbing  the  building  of 
its  most  distinctive  feature.  Several  years  since,  it  passed  from 
the  ownership  of  the  College;  and  now,  dining-room,  chapel, 
sitting-room  and  Treasurer's  office,  are  devoted  to  mercantile 
uses. 

The  second  building  erected  was  the  present  Boarding  or 
Ladies'  Hall,  raised  in  the  summer  of  1834,  but  not  completed 
until  the  autumn  of  1835.  Such  an  addition,  gave  a  sense  of 
enlargement  to  the  school,  The  dining  room  afforded  sittings 
for  !200,  and  it  was  soon  filled.  The  third  story  and  the  west- 
ern flights  of  stairs,  were  appropriated  to  young  men,  the  first 


year  or  more.  Afterwards  it  \v as  wholly  surrendered  to  the 
ladies,  except  the  claim  upon  the  dining  room.  This  dining 
room,  for  several  months  before  it  was  completed,  and  after- 
wards, was  used  as  a  place  of  worship  on  Slbbath. 

About  this  time,  1835,  a  church   in   AValton,  X.  Y.,  sent  on 
several  of  their  young   men,  and   put   up  a  building  for  them 
called  Walton  Hall — a  two  story  building  capable  of  rooming 
twenty-four     students.      This   is    now    private     property — a 
-room,  on  the  west  side  of  Main  street,  midway  be- 
ollege  and  Mill  streets.     In  the  spring  of  this  year,Cin- 
lall,  already  described,  was  erected.     It  stood   to   the 
south-west  of   the   present   Laboratory,  extending  north  and 
south,  on  what  is  now  the  east  side  of  Professor  street.    It  was  oc- 
d  two  or  three  years  ;  but  not  a  vestige  of  it  remains  ex- 
cept the  well,  which  is  buried  three  or  four  feet  under  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  in  the  front  yard  of  one  of  our  citizens. 
16  portions  of  the  timbers  exist  in  the  frame  of  a  stable  be- 
longing to  another  citizen — useful  to  the  last. 

Colonial  Hall  was  erected  in  the  autumn  of  1835,  and  com- 
pleted the  next  summer.  It  was  so  named,  because  the  people 
of  the  COM  my  Mibscribed  a  considerable  portion  of  the  funds  re- 
quired to  build  it,  and  were  entitled  in  return  to  the  joint  use, 
for  Sabbath  worship,  of  the  lower  ompleted  as  a  chaju-l. 

building  remains  in  form  as  it  was  first  constructed,  except 
that  four  recitation  rooms  have  taken  the  place  of  the  old  chap- 
el. How  many  experiences  will  it  require  to  make  any  other 
chapel  the  centre  of  such  memories,  as  cluster  about  that  dingy 
old  room  ! 

Tappnn  Ilali  was  commenced  the  same  year,  1M*:.,  and  its 
walls  stood  through  the  winter  at  about  half  their  full  In-L'ht. 
\\h<ii  this  was  completed,  within  a  \r,u  afterwards,  the  Col- 
lege seemed  comfortably  furnished  with  rooms,  both  public  aad 
private,  and  building  operations  were  suspended  fo: 
>,  except  that  the  Laboratory  and  .Music,  Hall  were  a<i.i 

Pbe  Laborator;  ;• 

of  Natural  History. 

7 


The  new  Chapel  was  erected  in  1854,  necessitated  by  the 
sudden  increase  in  the  number  of  students.  It  affords  sittings 
for  about  900,  and  is  barely  sufficient  for  our  daily  wants. 

These  huildings  have  been  erected  with  little  regard  to  archi- 
tectural appearance,  and  some  of  them,  as  is  incident  to  a  new 
country,  without  sufficient  attention  to  stability.  The  early  de- 
cay of  such  is  inevitable.  Their  aggregate  first  cost  was  prob- 
ably about  $40,000,  and  much  has  been  expended  upon  repeat- 
ed renovations.  The  early  commencements  were  held  in  the 
"  Big  Tent" — a  circular  canopy  100  feet  in  diameter,  capable  of 
sheltering  3000  people.  It  was  spread  on  the  college  square, 
east  of  Tappan  Hall.  The  manufacturers  thought  the  structure 
unfinished  without  a  flag  upon  the  central  mast,  and  according- 
ly sent  on  a  blue  streamer  with  the  Millennial  inscription,  "Holi- 
ness to  the  Lord."  This  seemed  to  the  people  too  pretentious, 
especially  as  the  Millennium  had  not  yet  come;  and  it  was  never 
raised  except  at  the  first  putting  up  of  the  tent.  One  summer, 
the  Sabbath  services  were  held  in  the  tent,  the  students  spread- 
ing it  every  Saturday  evening,  and  removing  it  Monday  morn- 
ing. 

In  1842  the  Oberlin  Church  edifice  was  commenced,  of  such 
dimensions  as  should  serve  for  commencement  occasions;  and 
here,  since  that  year,  our  anniversary  gatherings  have  been 
held.  It  admits  on  these  occasions  2700  people,  and  affords 
shade  for  half  as  many  more. 

EARLY    OCCUPANTS    OP    THE    HALLS. 

The  buildings  stand  here,  to  tell  their  own  experience  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century ;  but  where  are  the  multitudes  whose 
history  leads  through  those  halls  ?  Who  shall  tell  their  tale  ? 
Whither  are  they  scattered,  and  what  has  been  their  work? 
With  the  catalogue  of  twenty  years  ago  in  our  hand,  let  us  call 
the  roll  of  the  occupants  of  Tappan  Hall,  not  by  their  names, 
but,  as  is  done  in  some  public  institutions,  by  the  numbers  on 
their  doors,  not  omitting  a  single  number.  Some  echo  of  a  re- 
sponse may  reach  us  now  and  then.  We  take  them  as  they 
stand:  50,  went  to  Africa  with  the  "  Amistad  captives,"  a  pi- 
oneer in  the  Mendi  Mission — a  home  missionary  on  the  western 


M 

,es — gone  to  his  rest;  24,   pastor  in  northern  Ohio — pio- 
neer in  the  free  settlements  of  Kansas — encountered  the  tug  of 
war  at  Osawatamie,  and  stands  there  still  to  lay  the  foundation 
an  institutions  ;  [we  pass  many  worthy  names  because 
the  significant  T  does  not  stand  against  them,]  20,    pastor  in 
uont   and    northern   Ohio — still    at   wurk ;  31,    helped   to 
found  a  second  ObcrBn  in  Michigan — now  a  pastor  in   Io\va  : 
;;i,      ;-tor  in  western  New  York — then  in  eastern  Massaehu- 
-m»\v  in  an  eastern  city;  *J.\  pastor  in    Michigan,    .\\-\v 
;  and  Ohio— now  Principal  of  the  Preparatory  Department; 
1.  pastor  in  southern  Ohio — no\\    a  business  man  in  north- 
rn  Illinois;  85,  "  the  poet's  corner" — for  many  year-  a 
teacher  here — now  a  farmer  in  Wisconsin;  35,  one  brief 
a  preacher  of  the  Gospel — asleep  in  .J<  liteen  y  ,u  > ; 

ttvera]    years  a  pastor  in  central   \i  w   York — went  to  his 
rest  four  years  ago  ;  19,  \ 

.—the  last  three  year  i ;  18,  pastor  at  tin    \  \   t 

— a  laborer  in  the  cause  of  female  education  in  western    c 
— now  a  pastor  in  easier;  Its;      I,  \\ent  an  invalid 

to  the  West  Indies — performed  vigorous  m 
several  years — returned  here   to  die  in  triumph   twel 
ago;  22,  pastor  at  the   Kast — and  n< 

Michigan;  48,  farmer  in  central  Ne\\  u>\\-   lu-Ipi        j,, 

lay  the  imir.dations  of  society  in  south-wc-st,-r;i  [n.\a  ;   50, 
tor  in  northern  and   north  '  .         ,rth 

ern  Ohio — physician  in  !<>wa;  33,  pa, tor  at  t! 
health  and  means  in  California — pa-t«>r  in    V,  , 
nois;    23,    these    eighteen    years   a    pastor    ia     Illin   ,    .    39, 
pastor     at    the    Ka>t — at    the    VV  ,|    now    in    Mir  hi        : 

26,  preacher  and  profess  md  Philosophy—  ! 

was   made  on  the   hill    yonder   thirteen  .    j.a^- 

\.  \v  ^^>|•!^    -now  ii.   I  ;      [>,   pa-tor  in    \ 

ern  New  York — twelve  years  a  mi-iouary  in  the   \\         I 
—  pnstor    in   DOft  I  :«>r  ih,-  (-    man)    yi  ;:: 

nis-in  ;   58,    pastor    in    Iowa;    37,   ml  horiiuil1- 

ow  nnd  for  many  years  pastor  in  lili 
38,  pastor  in    wester:  York — and   in    Illinois — rests 

labors ;   I  8  Imnoi    man,    Lr"  >      '  .        i.  of    in 

Ohio — profr.sor  of  Mathematics  in  a   n<  \v    rnivcr>ity      died   at 
h'n  post  nine  years  ago;  4(J,  paster  in   western    lVnn-\  Ivania 


— now  for  many  years  in  Illinois ;  10,  a  lawyer  in  Ohio  ;  6, 
missionary  teacher  and  farmer  in  Minnesota ;  IS,  pastor  in 
Ohio — now  in  Michigan  ;  04,  pastor  in  Ohio — resting  at  pres- 
ent; 45,  pastor  in  Illinois  and  in  Iowa;  81,  pastor  in  Illinois 
— died  a  year  ago  ;  57,  pastor  in  western  New  York  ;  62, 
pastor  in  Iowa;  47,  pastor  in  Massachusetts — died  after  a  two 
years'  ministry ;  63,  pastor  in  central  Ohio ;  9,  teacher  in 
Iowa;  41,  farmer  and  colporteur  in  Ohio ;  55,  a  short  time  a 
preacher — now  a  good  deacon  in  Ohio;  11,  at  first  a  minister 
— now  a  lawyer  in  Ohio  ;  7,  physician  in  an  eastern  city  ;  3, 
lawyer  in  a  western  city — one  of  the  few  Oberlin  students 
who  have  attained  wealth  ;  44,  an  honest  citizen  and  merchant 
in  Ohio;  2,  pastor  in  Ohio — leader  of  a  Christian  colony  to 
south-western  Iowa — Congregational  bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
the  Missouri  River  ;  8,  missionary  to  the  West  Indies — found- 
er of  a  manual  labor  school  in  the  mountains  of  Jamaica;  83, 
pastor  in  Ohio — now  in  western  New  York ;  77,  pastor  in 
eastern  Massachusetts  ;  73,  pastor  in  Ohio  and  in  western  New 
York;  76,  pastor  in  Illinois  and  Iowa;  69,  minister  at  the 
West;  78,  business  man  in  Ohio;  61,  missionary  among 
the  North-Western  Indians ;  84,  physician  in  western 
New  York  ;  14,  missionary  to  the  North-Western  Ojibwas  ;  82, 
distributor  of  excellent  books  in  Connecticut ;  89,  pastor  in 
Ohio — a  pioneer  missionary  in  Kansas  through  the  struggle  ; 
62,  pastor  in  Iowa  these  fourteen  years;  70,  pastor  in  Ohio 
and  Illinois;  72,  teacher  in  Iowa;  88,  lawyer — for  many 
years  mayor  of  a  prominent  city  in  Ohio;  1,  itinerant  preach- 
er in  Ohio  ;  42,  lawyer  in  Michigan  ;  74,  farmer  at  the  West; 
90,  business  man  and  lecturer  in  an  eastern  city  ;  79,  mission- 
ary to  the  Cherokees — now  farmer  in  Michigan  ;  43,  lawyer  in 
central  New  York ;  67,  brilliant  but  reckless — a  fate  too  sad 
to  mention — his  bones  lie  on  the  Pacific  coast :  75,  lawyer — 
serving  his  country  in  a  government  office,  a  rare  privilege  for 
an  Oberlin  student;  16,  a  long-settled  pastor  in  Illinois;  69, 
preacher  at  the  West ;  80  merchant  in  Wisconsin  ;  68,  pas- 
tor in  Illinois;  66,  pastor  in  Ohio ;  46,  farmer  in  Ohio;  57, 
preacher,  residence  unknown  ;  86,  minister  in  Ohio  and  Mis- 
souri;  1~,  pastor  in  Minnesota;  65,  no  response. 

Thus  closes  the  roll  of  Tappan  Hall  for  1840 — a  single  gen- 


53 

eratiou  of  its  occupants.  They  may  serve  as  a  sample  brick 
from  the  building.  Each  other  Ilall  would  present  a  similar, 

r  record,      if i  iiu<  gives  o.,iy  the  outsiu, 
structure — for  the  polished  stones  of  the  inner  temple  we  must 

over  to  the  Ladies'  Ilall.  And  here  a  difficulty  meets  us. 
The  numbers  of  the  ladies'  private  rooms  were  never  published. 
We  must  take  them  in  course  as  they  stand  on  the  same  cata- 
logue— not  omitting  a  single  name — beginning  with  seniors  and 
going  down.  Xurnber  1,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Massachusett 

in  Michigan  ;  3,  professor's  wife  at  home  ;  4,  wife 
ef  a  pastor  in  Iowa  ;  5,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Michigan  ;  (5,  mis- 
sionary teacher  among  the  Cherokees,  wife  of  a  merchant  in 
Iowa  ;  7,  wife  of  a  manufacturer  in  southern  Ohio  ;  8,  wife  of  a 
merchant  in  Connecticut ;  9,  wife  of  a  pas  or  in  Iowa;  10,  wife 
of  an  editor  in  Iowa;  11,  wife  ef  a  minister,  president  of  a 
college  in  Michigan,  died  two  years  ago  ;  1-,  \\  iff  of  a  mission- 
ary in  Asiatic  Turkt  lied  a  teacher  in  Tennessee;  14, 
wife  of  a  lawyer  in  Iowa ;  15  and  16,  two  excellent  members 
of  the  Smith  family,  dillicult  to  trace;  17,  wife  of  a  citizen  of 
New  York,  herself  deceased,  represented  in  the  Institution,  as 
many  others,  by  a  daughter;  18,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Michigan; 

vife  of  a  judge  in  central  New  York  ;  'JO,  wife  of  a  teacher 
in  a  manual  labor  school,  herself  a  teacher  in  Ohio  ;  I ,  wife  of 
a  pastor  in  Illinois,  now  a  widow  in  central  Ohio;  22,  wife  of  a 
physician  in  western  New  York;  L'3,  wife  of  a  worthy  citizen 
1.  |K)etess,  editress,  wife  and  mother  in  an  eastern 
city  ;  of  a  pastor  in  central  >.Yw  ^  oik  ;  -JO,  wife  of  a 

pastor  in  Illinois;  L'7,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Wisconsin;  28,  witr 
of  a  physician,  at  the  head  of  a  home  for  invalids  ;  L".),  wife  of 
a  wealthy  citizen  of  Massachusett- ;  \M\  wife  of  a  citizen  of 

igan,  died  twelve  years  ago;  31,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Ohio, 
again  of  a  citizen  of  Iowa;  32,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Iowa;  33, 
mother,  counsellor  and  support  of  six  children  deserted  l>y  their 
father ;  34,  an  interesting  young  lady,  died  in  early  life  ;  35, 
wife  of  a  minister  and  farmer  in  Michigan  ;  36,  wife  of  a  teacher 
and  again  of  a  farmer  in  Ohio;  37,  wife  of  a  minister  and  mer- 
chant in  Illinois;  38,  wife  of  a  minister  and  president  of  a 
youthful  college  in  Michigan;  39,  wife  of  a  citizen  of  Ohio,  died 


54 

early;  40,  wife  of  a  merchant  in  Michigan;  41,  no  response; 
42,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  Illinois  and  again  of  a  professor  of 
music;  43,  no  response;  44,  wife  of  a  pastor  in  central  New 
York  ;  45,  wife  of  a  farmer  in  Iowa  ;  46,  no  response ;  47  and 
48,  two  more  Smiths ;  49,  wife  of  a  minister  in  Ohio ;  50, 
wife  of  a  professor  in  central  New  York ;  51,  wife  of  a  pastor, 
now  a  widow  in  Ohio — and  so  to  the  end ;  scarce  a  name  which 
may  not  be  recalled  with  satisfaction,  and  few  which  do  not 
bring  with  them  a  volume  of  precious  memories — few  which 
are  not  in  themselves  a  history,  to  those  whose  lives  have  run 
in  the  same  channel  these  twenty  years. 

COLLEGKE    FUNDS. 

The  funds  of  the  college,  at  the  close  of  its  first  year,  were 
reported  at  $17,000;  consisting  of  500  acres  of  land,  money 
raised  by  an  advance  of  $1  on  each  acre  of  the  original  purchase, 
and  subscriptions  made  at  the  East  and  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Oberlin.  The  next  year,  able  men  in  New  York  City  took  hold 
of  the  enterprise.  Arthur  Tappan  gave  $10,000  to  build  Tappan 
Hall;  another  gentleman  loaned  $10,000,  and  these  and  others 
united  in  a  "  Professorship  Association,"  pledging  themselves  to 
pay  regularly  the  salaries  of  eight  Professors.  This  arrange- 
ment was  the  basis  upon  which  President  Mahan  and  Professors 
Finney,  Morgan,  Cowles,  and  others,  received  their  appointments. 
It  served  the  purpose  of  bringing  those  men  here,  and  was 
thus  an  important  step  in  the  establishment  of  the  Institution. 
But  it  did  not  pay  their  salaries,  more  than  a  single  year.  The 
great  fire  in  New  York  City,  and  the  great  monetary  convul- 
sions of  1836  and  37,  followed,  prostrating  the  entire  business  of 
the  country.  The  Professorship  Association  went  down,  never 
to  rise  again.  But  the  men  were  here,  and  the  work  assumed 
such  interest  on  their  hands,  that  they  could  not  find  it  in  their 
hearts  to  leave.  They  consented  to  live  on  meagre  pay,  and 
this  coming  in  no  definite  form  or  channel.  Money  was  some- 
times loaned  to  weather  a  point — sometimes  obtained  by  con- 
tribution. From  time  to  time,  a  load  of  debt  accumulated, 
and  special  efforts  were  made  to  lift  the  burden.  In  1838,  when 
debts  were  pressing,  and  friends  in  this  country  seemed  dis- 


couraged  or  exhausted,  Messrs.  Keep  and  Dawes  undertook  a 
ion  to  England.  They  went  sustained  by  the  commenda- 
tions of  distinguished  philanthropists  in  this  country,  and  were 
cordially  received  by  men  of  similar  spirit  there.  By  untiring 
diligence,  they  raised,  in  the  course  of  eighteen  months,  $30,000, 
sufficient  to  cancel  the  debt.  It  was  chiefly  the  fidelity  of 
Oberlin  to  anti-slavery  principles,  that  brought  forth  such  a 

from  British  Christians. 

Students  were  abundant  during  those  years;  but  the  charge 
for  tuition  wr  ami  the  income  from  this  source  was 

not  half  sufficient  to  meet  current  expenses.     The  balance  \\as 
up,  by  keeping  a  soliciting  agent  constantly  in  the  field. 
The   early  friends   of  the   Institution  stood    by  it  manfully,  but 
irbed  by  these  repeated  applications.     In 
I860,  vement  was   made  to  secure    an    endowment   of 

$100,000,  by  the  sale  of  scholar-hips  guaranteeing  free  tuition 
to  their  holders.  These  sales  were  conditioned  upon  the  making 
up  of  the  required  sum,  and  no  transaction  was  confirmed  until 
the  pledges  amounted  to  $100,000.  The  work  of  securing 
pledges  was  accomplished  in  a  lit  lie  more  than  a  year;  $±2,ooO 
bein^  >ed  in  the  place,  and  $37,000  in  this  county.  Of 

cour  subsequent  collection  of  these  subscriptions,  there 

would  be  some  failures;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  effort  was  a 
success.  As  a  result,  the  college  has  a  fund  of  $89,000,  secured 
on  bond  and  mortgage;  and  unpaid,  reliable  obligations,  to  the 
amount,  perhaps,  of  $5,000  more.  By  the  interest  of  this 
fund,  the  literary  departments  of  the  Institution  throughout, 

•hid  \\ith  instruction.  This  interest  is  about  $6,700 
yearly — a  very  small  sum  for  the  vast  amount  of  work  involved, 
ably  no  instance  can  be  found  in  the  country,  where  the 
pay  seems  so  inadequate  to  the  work  done.  It  is  because  the 
work  itself  is  so  inviting  and  satisfactory,  that  the  men  employed 
are  not  tempt*  d  t«>  d«  ir  posts.  The  highest  salary  paid 

from  this  fund  is  $600 — a  sum  entirely  too  small  to  meet  the 
wants  of  a  family  in  a  town  where  a  moderate  rent  is  $200. 
The  scholarship  -ystem  has  been  in  operation  nearly  nine  years, 
and  in  that  time,  of  course,  no  tuition  has  been  received; 
because  the  use  of  a  scholarship  can  be  obtained  at  about  t\vo 


56 


thirds  of  the  regular  tuition  charge.  The  scholarships  sold 
were  of  three  varieties — for  six  years,  eighteen  years,  and  per- 
petual. The  whole  number  issued  was  about  1,400.  The 
scholarships  of  short  period  are  expiring  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
five  each  term ;  but  it  will  be  several  years  before  there  will  be 
any  deficiency  in  the  market,  or  any  necessity  for  paying  tuition, 
even  if  the  number  of  students  should  continue  as  at  present. 

After  the  movement  for  the  endowment  of  the  college,  the 
Theological  Department  was  sustained  entirely  by  annual  con- 
tributions from  friends  in  New  York  and  New  England,  until 
two  years  ago.  Then  an  effort  was  commenced  for  securing  a 
permanent  fund,  adequate  to  its  support.  The  work  was  begun 
at  home,  by  a  subscription  of  $10,000;  and  has  been  prosecuted 
abroad,  until  the  sums  paid  and  pledged  amount  to  about  §20,000. 
Meanwhile,  the  friends  who  have  stood  by  the  work  so  long, 
are  still  depended  upon  to  help  us  through. 

In  a  few  instances  legacies,  small  in  amount,  but  valuable  in 
the  interest  and  confidence  which  they  indicate,  have  been  left 
to  the  college,  and  we  may  reasonably  hope  for  an  increase  of 
such  remembrances.  Want  of  confidence  in  the  stability  of  a 
new  institution,  precludes  those  large  donations  and  legacies, 
by  which  good  men  seek  to  perpetuate  their  beneficence  in  the 
world.  A  college  must  show  itself  able  to  live,  in  general, 
before  those  resources  will  gather  about  it  which  are  essential 
to  its  highest  efficiency.  This  is  the  way  of  the  world,  and 
perhaps  it  is  as  well.  Every  individual  and  every  enterprise 
must  have  its  probation. 

PRESSING    WANTS. 

A  glance  at  the  present  condition  of  the  college,  will  show 
some  obvious  needs.  Foremost  among  them  is  the  necessity  of 
a  larger  income  for  the  purposes  of  instruction,  sufficient  to 
afford  some  additions  to  the  teaching  force,  and  an  adequate 
support  to  the  men  already  on  the  ground.  It  is  found  that 
teachers  can  live  on  inadequate  pay,  but  it  has  not  been  found 
that  they  can  give  their  undivided  energies  to  the  work,  when 
duty  to  their  own  families  requires  them  to  engage  in  pursuits 
outside  of  their  professional  engagements.  In  the  first  years  of 
a  school,  such  distractions  must  be  tolerated;  but  permanent 


prosperity  can  only  be  secured  by  undivided  labors.  In  a  school 
as  la  me  as  this,  there  is  an  imperative  demand  for  a  concentra- 
tion of  the  entire  intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  force  of  the 
board  of  instruction,  for  the  welfare  of  the  pupils.  It  is  not 
enough  that  each  teacher  meets  the  classes  assigned  him,  and 
performs  respectably  the  duties  of  his  particular  hours.  1 1  is 
thought  and  soul  must  be  given  to  his  work.  The  interests  of 
the  school,  aside  from  his  particular  branch  of  study,  must  be 
matter  of  daily  and  hourly  concern.  The  teacher's  influence 
must  be  felt  everywhere,  to  guard  every  point  of  danger,  and  to 
secure  every  available  advantage — a  quiet,  unobtrusive  influence, 

ione  the  less  potent.     Such  work  cannot  be  performed  by 

men  whose  strength  must  be  partly  given   to  a  provision  for 

daily  wants,  by  work   out  of   their  appropriate   sphere. 

Vet  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  men,  inadequately  sustained,  «  an 

They  must  work   thus,  or   leave  their  posts  to  be  filled 

by  others  of  less  experience,  who  will  be  subjected  to  the  same 

necessity.     Oberlin  College  will  one  day  look  to  her  children 

to  avert  this  danger.     At   present  she  must   fall    back    upon 

friends  who  have  stood  by  her  in  many  emergencies. 

A  new  and  commodious  Ladie s*  Hall,  is  the  next  great  neces- 
sity. The  grounds  are  waiting  to  receive  the  structure;  the 
improvements  of  the  village  are  intruding  upon  the  quiet  of 
the  old  hall,  and  still  we  are  not  able  to  arise  and  build.  The 
-um  of  $30,000  could  be  wisely  devot<d  to  \\\\<  improvement. 
Does  the  country  present  any  better  opening  lor  an  investment 
of  the  ki  ie  old  Boarding  Hall  has  served  its  generation, 

and  might  properly  be  relieved  from  further  duty. 

More  books — enlarged  libraries,  are  anxiously  looked  for.  The 
time  to  use  them  has  arrived,  and  the  want  is  seriously  felt. 
Something  has  been  done,  of  late,  to  meet  this  necessity.  The 
Theological  Literary  Society  !  !o  a  beginning  in  the  way 

•  Election.     Their   library  numbers  about  one   tlmu-aiid  \«d- 
umes.    The  two  College  ry  Societies  united  in  a  move- 

,  some  four  years  since,  and  have  an  excelle  t  collection 
of  one  thousand  volumes.  The  two  Literary  Societies  among 
i  i  •  ,  made  a  beginning  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  and  have 

now    three   or  four    hundred    \\tdl   selected   volmn< 

cst  in  the  matter  which  promises  well  for  the  future.     N<» 
8 


58 

large  additions  have  been  made  of  late  to  the  College  Library. 
It  embraces  about  five  thousand  five  hundred  volumes,  with 
room  for  more.  Four  years  ago,  the  Alumni  of  the  College 
made  a  movement  to  raise  $10,000  for  the  library,  and  nearly 
one-third  of  this  amount  was  subscribed.  The  general  pecuniary 
revulsion  of  1857,  arrested  the  work ;  and  the  committee  in- 
trusted with  the  matter,  await  the  action  of  the  Alumni  assembled 
to-day. 

Another  building  is  wanted,  affording  safe  and  commodious 
rooms  for  Libraries,  the  Cabinet  of  Natural  History,  Philo- 
sophical Apparatus,  and  suitable  Lecture  Rooms  adjacent,  with 
rooms,  also,  permanently  appropriated  to  the  Literary  Societies. 
This  building  would  stand  north  of  Tappan  Hall,  corresponding 
in  position  with  the  Chapel,  and  should  cost  $15,000.  The 
room  secured,  an  appropriation  would  be  needed  to  extend 
the  Cabinet,  and  provide  for  its  wholesome  and  steady  growth. 
A  substantial  beginning  has  been  made  towards  a  Cabinet,  but 
it  is  no  time  to  stop.  The  tower  of  the  building  would  give  a 
place  for  such  a  telescope  as  the  college  needs.  To  furnish  this, 
with  moderate  appointments,  will  require  $2,000. 

The  only  remaining  money  want  which  we  shall  mention  is, 
some  jjrovision  to  aid,  moderately  and  discriminately,  worthy 
students — young  men  and  young  women,  whose  course  of 
education  must  be  interrupted  and  perhaps  fail,  for  want  of  a 
little  timely  help.  The  education  societies  of  the  land  are  too 
much  occupied  to  attend  to  Oberlin  students,  and  have,  in 
general,  seemed  willing  to  be  relieved  of  the  responsibility.  A 
beginning  has  been  made  in  the  work,  by  a  legacy,  of  the  late 
Dr.  Avery  of  Pittsburgh,  left  to  the  college,  in  trust,  for  the  aid 
of  needy  and  deserving  colored  students — the  income  only  to 
be  expended.  This  legacy  will  yield  a  fund  of  $6,600.  A  fund 
of  $000  has  been  secured  to  the  female  department,  by  a  legacy 
of  a  lady  of  Syracuse,  and  by  a  donation  from  a  lady  of  Philadel- 
phia. These  funds  are  open  for  additions,  and  there  is  room 
for  the  establishment  of  others.  Timely  relief  has  been  afforded 
occasionally,  to  individual  students,  by  benevolent  men  who 
have  felt  moved  to  such  deeds.  These  good  deeds  have  not 
been  conspicuous,  but  they  are  known  to  Him  who  seeth  in 
secret. 


50 

This  list  of  wants  is  somewhat  formidable,  and  may  seem 
disheartening  to  the  friends  of  Oberlin  ;  but  it  is  better  that  we 
should  go  forward  with  open  eyes,  and  not  imagine  that  the 
pressure  is  removed,  or  the  work  done. 

RESULTS. 

The  outcome  of  all  this  expenditure  of  labor  and  means, 
cannot  be  given  in  a  lew  brief  words.  Nor  can  it  be 
embraced  by  human  thought.  Some  portions  of  the  work  lie 
upon  the  surface,  and  might  be  expressed  in  facts  and  figures; 
others  reach  the  foundations  of  society,  and  can  neither  be 
computed  nor  revealed.  A  few  hasty  suggestions  must  sin 

The  contribution  made  to  the  grand  total  of  Christian  Edu- 
cation in  the  country,  is  a  very  obvious  result.  '1  his  is  to  he 
.lated,  not  merely  by  the  numbers  graduated  from  the 
different  departments,  but  by  the  impression  made  upon  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  thousands  who  have  received  HUT.- 
or  less  training  here.  These  have  averaged  1,  00  a  year,  for 
the  last  nine  years ;  and  nearly  500  a  year  for  the  fifteen  years 
preceding.  They  have  not  been  children,  such  as  are  found  in 
common  schools,  but  young  men  and  young  women,  averaging 
probably  than  twenty  years  of  age,  just  ready  to  enter 

upon  active  life.  About  10,000,  in  the  aggregate,  have  gone 
abroad,  into  every  order  of  society,  into  every  Stale  in  the 
Union,  and  into  almost  every  region  of  the  globe;  bent,  as  we 
have  reason  to  believe  in  reference  to  the  larger  portion,  upon 
worthy  aims,  inspired  with  the  purpose  of  serving  their  genera- 
tion, and  furnished,  to  some  extent,  by  their  training  here,  with 
an  adaptedness  to  the  work. 

Many  of  these  have  engaged  in  teaching,  and  may  be  found 
in  the  schools  of  the  lai,<l,  of  every  grade.  ThN  business  of 
teach  'gely  pursued,  both  by  those  who  have  permanent iy 

left  the  Institution,  and  those  who  go  out  to  find  employment  for 
the  winter  vacation.     Sometimes  more  than  five  hundred  of  our 
home  students  have  been  employed  in  teaching,  in  a  single  year, 
giving  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  of  school-kit 
allotting  •  ,  and  thn.c  tei  ms  to  : 

These  teachers  have,  in  general,  well  sustained   the   reputation 


of  the  Institution,  and  the  best  schools  in  the  land  are  open  to 
them.  A  large  portion  of  our  students  are  drawn  from  these 
schools,  led  here  hy  their  teachers.  Large  numbers  of  these 
teachers  rue  not  interested  merely  to  earn  their  money,  or  to 
secure  a  reputation  for  themselves.  They  go  forth  "  bearing 
precious  seed,"  and  '*  come  again  with  rejoicing." 

Something  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  popularizing  educa- 
tion, and  adapting  the  style  of  educational  institutions  to  Wes- 
tern society  and  Western  wants.  The  mistake  has  sometimes 
been  made,  of  attempting  to  transplant  Eastern  educational 
systems,  the  growth  of  Eastern  thought  and  social  forces, 
without  any  modifications,  to  the  West.  We  have  our  "  Yales  " 
and  "Mt.  Ilolyokes  of  the  West" — intended,  avowedly,  to  be 
reproductions  of  distinguished  and  successful  Eastern  schools, 
upon  the  assumption  that  if  they  are  successful  anywhere,  they 
must  be  so  everywhere.  Now,  even  an  Eastern  fruit,  transferred 
to  some  portions  of  Ohio,  finds  itself  out  of  its  proper  "  habitat;" 
and  the  forces  of  society  must  be  regarded,  at  least  as  carefully 
as  the  laws  of  the  material  world.  These  Eastern  schools  are 
the  growth  of  the  society  in  which  they  exist.  A  successful 
Western  school  must  have  a  similar  connection  with  Western 
society.  We  hear  of  recent  endeavors  to  establish  a  "  New 
England  College  "  in  California.  Would  it  not  be  wiser  to  rear 
a  California  College  there?  The  school  which  shall  furnish  to 
California  the  advantages  which  it  requires,  must  be  a  California 
College.  The  schools  of  New  England  are  not  a  reproduction 
of  the  universities  of  Old  England,  and  could  not  be.  The 
descendants  of  the  Pilgrims,  at  the  West,  should  exercise  a 
similar  wisdom. 

Oberlin  was  the  pioneer  in  a  system  of  higher  education  at 
the  West.  This  system  is  indigenous  to  the  soil,  and  has  shown 
its  vitality  in  a  vigorous  growth.  Nearly  a  score  of  colleges 
have  sprung  up  in  the  different  Western  States,  since  Oberlin 
began,  modeled  upon  the  same  general  plan.  Several  of  these 
have  been  founded,  and  are  now  manned,  by  Oberlin  students; 
in  others,  Oberlin  students  bear  a  part.  If  the  system  be  not 
adapted  to  Western  society,  the  discovery  will  soon  be  made  ; 
for  it  is  to  be  tested  upon  a  wide  scale. 


61 

Oberlfn  students  have  been,  to  a  very  great  extent,  pioneers 
in  Western  Evangelization.  A  very  large  majority  of  the 
preachers  who  have  gone  from  Oberlin,  have  found  their  work 
in  the  frontier  settlements  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
.  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas  and  California.  They  have  usually 
sallied  out  to  find  their  work,  expecting  their  support  to  come 
with  it — not  always  careful  to  have  it  secured  in  advance  by 
some  missionary  society.  Many  of  them  have  been  sustained 
by  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  the  American 
ionary  Association;  but  many,  and  far  the  larger  number, 
have  accepted  what  their  people  could  afford  them,  and  have 
stood  cheerfully  at  their  posts,  until  their  silvered  locks  begin  to 
show  that  the  days  of  their  youth  are  past.  At  their  side  may 
be  found  representatives  of  the  female  department,  of  like 
and  courage,  and  bearing  their  part  in  the  battle  of  life. 
Their  children  are  coming  back  to  U3  from  time  to  time,  imbued 
with  th  >}  irit  of  their  fathers  and  mothers,  to  drink,  we  would 
hope,  from  the  same  fountains  of  wisdom  and  inspiration,  and 
to  go  forth  on  the  same  errands  of  love.  No  tables  can  give 
the  results  of  such  labors,  and  we  have  no  disposition  to  attempt 
them. 

The  Foreign  Missionary  field  has  not  been  overlooked  by 
Oberlin  students.  The  American  Missions  among  the  emanci- 
pated colored  people  of  Jamaica,  have  been  established  by 
Oberlin  students.  The  missionaries  and  teachers  there  have 
been,  with  few  exceptions,  from  Oberlin.  The  first  who  went, 
were  self  ing,  and  those  who  have  succeeded  them,  have 

relied  greatly  upon  their  own  field  for  their  support.  The  two 
onaries  who  led  the  way  in  the  Mendi  mission  of  West 
Africa — Steele  and  Raymond — were  Oberlin  men,  and  the  larger 
portion  of  the  laborers  there  have  gone  from  this  place — most 
of  them  to  lie  down  in  early  graves.  The  flowers  of  the  tropics 
are  already  blossoming,  over  the  resting  place  of  one  who  left 
us  less  than  a  year  ago.  The  missions  of  the  Amerir.-m  Mis- 
sion.'! ociation  among  the  Ojibwas,  at  the  North- v. 

hed  by  Oberlin  students,  and  have  been  carried  on 

almost  solely  by  laborers  from   this  school,  sustained  at  the 

he    "Western   Evangelical    Missionary   Society," 

established  here.     From  these  three  missions,  and  several  com- 


mitteeships,  organized  to  "sustain  them,  sprung  the  American 
Missionary  Association  of  New  York.  Its  leading  founders  and 
officers  were  from  the  early  friends  and  supporters  of  Oberlin ; 
its  first  secretary,  still  at  his  post,  was  of  the  Lane  Seminary 
protestants — a  student  and  professor  here  ;  its  missionaries  have 
been  drawn  chiefly  from  this  school,  both  for  the  foreign  and 
the  home  field — for  the  free  and  the  slave  states.  The  one  who 
now  stands  alone,  in  the  mountains  of  Kentucky,  is  a  downright 
Oberlin  man,  preaching  boldly  against  slavery  as  against  other 
sins.  Several  of  those  banished  a  few  months  since,  received 
their  training  here.  These  and  others  are  ready  to  enter  the 
field  again,  when  the  storm  subsides. 

The  style  of  culture  which  the  men  and  women  of  Oberlin  have 
carried  out  with  them  into  the  world — the  habits  and  principles 
of  personal  and  social  life  and  action,  have  been  a  contribution 
to  the  wholesome  influences  of  society.  They  may,  in  general, 
be  relied  on  for  earnest  and  generous  work — ready  to  lay  hold 
of  anything  that  needs  to  be  done,  with  more  interest  in  the 
work  than  in  the  pay.  They  have  seemed  to  regard  their 
personal  influence  as  good  to  use,  if  good  at  all,  and  are  not 
found  nursing  it  with  such  jealous  care  as  to  let  the  opportuni- 
ties for  its  employment  slip.  They  have  learned  that  suspicions 
and  misrepresentations  will,  in  the  end,  fly  before  an  honest 
heart  and  an  open  face ;  and  they  have  secured  to  themselves  a 
freedom  of  movement  in  their  work,  which  even  abler  men 
have  sometimes  coveted.  Such  exhibitions  of  earnest,  aggres- 
sive, working  habits,  the  world  has  need  of.  The  same  men 
and  women  may  be  relied  on  to  take  the  right  side  of  every 
good  cause.  They  are  for  freedom  and  temperance,  and  all 
practical  applications  of  Christianity.  If  an  Oberlin  minister 
can  be  found  who  smokes  or  chews  tobacco,  let  him  be  caught 
as  a  specimen  for  the  Cabinet.  He  would  prove  the  creation 
of  a  new  species,  in  this  "rest  period"  of  the  world.  No 
"development"  could  produce  him. 

The  freedom  of  thought  and  liberality  of  sentiment,  encour- 
aged and  vindicated  here,  are  a  heritage  in  which  Oberlin 
students  have  occasion  to  rejoice ;  and  which  they  have  done 
something  to  communicate  to  others.  While  "  holding  fast  the 
form  of  sound  words,"  they  have  been  taught  to  maintain  a 


Christian  Independence,  in  the  formation  and  utterance  of  their 
opinions,  which  is  equally  removed  from  bigotry  and  latitudina- 
rianism.  They  have  believed,  with  John  Robinson,  the  pastor 
of  the  Pilgrim-,  "that  the  Lord  hath  more  truth  yet  to  break 
forth  out  of  his  holy  word,"  than  was  revealed  to  the  leaders 
of  the  Reformation,  or  than  the  Westminster  Divines  were 
able  to  express.  The  grand  old  names  of  Augustine,  Calvin  and 
Edwards,  they  can  love  and  reverence,  without  bowing  to  them 
as  ultimate  authority,  or  flying  before  them  as  a  terror.  A 
somewhat  stern  discipline  has  taught  them  to  discriminate 
between  words  and  things.  Ready  to  give  a  reason  for  the 
faith  that  is  in  them,  we  would  hope,  with  meekness  and  fear, 
they  are  not  disconcerted  because  their  expressions  of  truth  are 
said  not  to  be  found  in  the  "  standards,"  or  because  Pelagius  or 
inius  I*  supposed  to  have  once  used  a  similar  phrase.  It  is 
the  fact  of  heresy,  and  not  the  name,  which  has  significance 
with  them.  Our  Alma  Mater  has  won  for  her  children  this 
birth-right  of  free  thought  and  free  expression,  and  the  world 
has  acknowledged  the  claim.  If  an  Oberlin  preacher  or  poli- 
tician, agrees  in  opinion  with  other  men,  it  is  placed  to  the 
credit  of  his  discretion  and  conservatism  ;  if  he  differs  from 
them,  it  is  accorded  cheerfully  to  his  Oberlinism.  He  is  not 
expected  to  agree  with  others,  except  when  it  is  perfectly  con- 
venient; it  is  no  part  of  the  contract  he  has  made  with  the 
world.  It  might  not  become  us  to  say  these  things  abroad ;  hut 
we  may  congratulate  each  other  upon  our  heritage,  in  our  own 
mother's  house  and  presence.  Let  us  transmit  it,  unimpaired, 
to  our  successors. 

The  catholic  spirit  and  organization  of  the  Oberlin  Church, 
have  done  much  to  liberalize  the  Christian  sympathies  of  the 
thousands  who  have  been  gathered  here,  and  to  relieve  many 
from  a  sectarian  bias.  The  example  which  has  been  furnished, 
of  a  Christian  community,  making  sectarian  differences  subor- 
dinate, and  co-operating  in  earnest  Christian  labor,  and  in  an 
efficient  church  organization,  is  not  without  its  value  in  the 
world. 

The  fresh  and  exalted  views  of  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  and  of 
the  fulness  of  salvation,  which  have  here  found  expression,  and 
which  have  been  realized  in  the  experience  of  many,  have  served 


64 

as  an  impulse  to  a  higher  Christian  life,  in  many  branches  of  the 
church — even  beyond  their  immediate  influence.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  claim  that  those  views  or  experiences  were  alto- 
gether new,  or  that  they  were  different  in  kind  from  Gospel 
truth  and  Christian  experience  everywhere  inculcated.  It  is 
only  another  example  of  new  vitality  given  to  old  truth,  by  a 
fresh  exposition  and  experience.  It  was  no  new  announcement 
that  lifted  Luther  from  his  slough  of  despond,  and  sent  him  to 
preach  to  the  nations  the  great  doctrine — "the  just  shall  live 
by  faith."  So  it  was  an  old  doctrine  that  *'  Jesus  Christ  is 
made  unto  us  wisdom  and  righteousness  and  sanctification  and 
redemption ;"  but  all  the  old  doctrines  need,  from  time  to  time, 
to  be  charged  afresh  with  the  electricity  of  living  thought  and 
feeling.  It  is  thus,  by  the  grace  of  God,  that  they  exist  in  the 
world  a  vital  power,  instead  of  dead  formulas — dried  specimens, 
preserved  in  the  cabinets  of  creeds  and  symbols.  If  any  fresh 
energy  has  been  imparted  to  the  least  of  these  "  exceeding 
great  and  precious  promises,"  by  reason  of  the  thought  and 
feeling  which  they  have  here  aroused,  it  is  occasion  for  devout 
thanksgiving.  To  maintain  in  the  church  "  the  form  of  sound 
words,"  is  unquestionably  an  important  work ;  but  to  inform 
those  words  with  new  power,  is  a  higher  aim  of  Gospel  preaching. 
Of  positive  contributions  to  Theological  Philosophy,  it  may 
seem  presumptuous  to  speak.  If  any  such  have  been  made,  it 
is  properly  the  work  of  another  generation  to  bring  them  out 
and  classify  them.  It  might  surprise  the  world  generally,  but 
it  would  not  surprise  those  who  have  been  familiar  with  the 
current  of  thought  here  and  elsewhere,  the  last  twenty-five 
years,  if  it  should  hereafter  appear  that,  now  and  then,  a  sub- 
stantial boulder  has  been  brought  down  by  the  Oberlin  rivulet, 
and  deposited  in  the  Theological  alluvium  of  the  present  age. 
Some  of  these  apparent  nodules  may  turn  out  only  "  Oberlin 
clay,"  but  others  bid  fair  to  stand  the  test  of  the  hammer.  Let 
us  submit  to  some  future  analyst,  the  theory  of  the  nature  of 
virtue,  or,  in  Oberlin  phrase,  "  the  foundation  of  moral  obliga- 
tion," as  it  has  been  here  set  forth.  It  will  perhaps  appear 
that  the  great  doctrine  of  benevolence  as  the  sum  of  virtue,  was 
taught  substantially  by  the  elder  Edwards — more  distinctly  by 
Dr.  Hopkins  of  Newport,  positively  discarded  or  overlooked 


65 

by  later  writers  on  morals,  except  Dr.  Taylor  of  New  Haven, 
in  whose  system  it  is  corrupted  with  utilitarianism,  and  is  now 
thoroughly  elaborated  and  shown  to  be  the  corner-stone  of  the 
entire  science  of  morals  in  "  Finney's  Theology."  If  this 
should  not  be  seen  or  acknowledged  in  our  day,  the  fact  would 
not  be  without  a  parallel.  It  is  said  that  antiquarians,  in  the 
heart  of  Europe,  puzzled  their  brains  over  dreamy  theories  of 
the  Hier«  ,  long  after  Young  and  Champollion  had  read 

the  Rosetta  stone,  and   let  in  a  flood  of  daylight  upon   the 
tian  tomlx.     Truth  can  bide  its  time. 

The  doctrine  of  the  unity  or  simplicity  of  moral  action,  as  the 
necessary  consequent  of  any  theory  which  limits  moral  action 
to  the  voluntary  states  and  exercises,  is  among  the  peculiari- 
ties of  Oberlin  Theology  which  deserve  examination.  This 
doctrine  has  been  maintained  by  Theologians  of  New  Kni: 
and  cannot  be  considered  original  here.  Some  originality  may 
appear  in  the  position  assigned  it  in  the  system  of  morals,  and 
proper  adjustment  and  development. 

The  grand  characteristic  of  the  Oberlin  Theological  system, 
is,  the  doctrine  of  a  self-determining  will— the  rigid  limitation  of 
all  moral  action  to  voluntary  stales  and  acts,  and  such  a  modi- 
fication of  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  as  the  scriptures  permit,  and 
as  leaves  no  necessary  conflict  between  the  great  facts  of  Divine 
sovereignty  and  man's  responsibility.  A  philosophical  as  well 
as  scriptural  basis  for  these  doctrines,  was  greatly  needed  for 
the  cause  of  evangelical  Christianity — also  a  bold  and  clear 
definition  of  sin  and  holiness.  New  Haven  has  done  much  to 
supply  these  wants,  and  it  may  one  day  be  seen  that  something 
has  been  done  here.  Oberlin  Theology,  in  its  leading  features, 
has  been  inculcated,  not  merely  in  the  lecture  room,  but  im- 
pressed upon  vast  numbers  of  vigorous,  active  minds,  here  and 
throughout  the  land.  Many  such  have  been  saved  from  a 
rejection  of  Christianity  by  the  clearer  and  more  rational  expo- 
sition of  its  doctrines. 

Something  has  already  been  suggested  of  the  influence  of 

Oberlin  in  promoting  an  anti-slavery  sentiment   in   tin   country. 

The  anti-slavery  work  has  brought  the  Institution  and  tlu  place 

into  connection  with  the  politics  of  the   region.     This  ]mlitic<il 

9 


66 

action  dates  back  to  1837,  when  Oberlin  held  the  balance  of 
power  between  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  in  the  county, 
and  exercised  its  right  to  question  candidates  on  their  anti- 
slavery  views,  and  on  other  points  of  fundamental  morality. 
From  that  day  to  this,  the  political  action  of  Oberlin  has  been 
of  a  direct,  practical  character — such  as  promised  to  tell  with 
most  effect  in  favor  of  the  anti-slavery  movement — not  always 
such  as  to  please  those  who  have  claimed  for  themselves  the 
most  advanced  position  in  the  battle.  This  action  has  been 
effective,  in  infusing  higher  and  better  principles  into  political 
parties,  and  securing  the  appointment  of  better  men  to  office. 
To  what  extent  it  has  operated,  does  not  become  us  to  say,  nor 
is  it  easy  to  define.  Enemies  and  friends  agree  that  the  influ- 
ence has  been  wide-spread,  and  to  some  extent  controlling. 

Oberlin  men  have  had  little  leisure  for  book-making.  A  single 
shelf  would  contain  all  the  books  which  have  been  written  by 
Oberlin  students,  at  home  and  abroad — not  that  they  have  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  literature  of  the  land.  A  stray  volume, 
here  and  there,  of  "  Home  Whispers,"  or  "  Household  Songs," 
has  given  us  a  taste  of  what  Oberlin  ladies  can  do ;  and  if 
literature  must  be  wrought  out  before  it  can  be  embodied  in 
written  records,  we  may  suppose  that  much  labor  has  been 
expended,  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  upon  the  raw 
material  of  books.  The  books  themselves  will  be  forthcoming 
during  the  next  twenty-five  years. 

CHANGES. 

But  the  inquiry  is  often  made,  is  Oberlin  what  it  once  was  ? 
Has  it  not  experienced  changes  which  have  divested  it  of  its 
original  character  and  of  its  peculiarities?  There  are  two 
classes  of  persons  who  are  interested  in  this  inquiry — those  who 
hope  for  an  affirmative  answer,  and  those  who  deprecate  it. 
Many  who  have  been  wont  to  think  of  Oberlin  as  a  place  of 
extravagances  and  fanaticisms — of  some  honest  intention  and 
much  want  of  good  sense — on  a  careful  survey  of  the  field,  do 
no  not  see  the  frightful  things  which  they  had  apprehended. 
They  find  themselves  drawn  towards  the  place  by  common 
sympathies,  and  interest  in  a  common  cause.  They  naturally 


6? 

explain  their  new  position  by  the  suggestion  that  everything  is 
changed — that  Oberlin  is  not  what  it  was.  They  forgtt  that 
"  the  stand-point  alters  the  view;"  and  that  much  of  the  change 
attributed  to  Oberlin,  cau  be  explained  upon  a  simpler  hypothe- 
sis. If  there  is  anything  which  these  good  men  now  approve — 
any  soundness  of  views,  any  steadfastness  of  principle,  any 
earnestness  of  soul,  any  energy  or  efficiency  of  action,  any 
liberality  of  sentiment — all  these  were  here  of  old,  when  the 
name  of  Oberlin  was  cast  out  as  evil,  and  could  be  seen  by 
those  who  were  in  an  attitude  to  see.  If  any  valuable  results 
been  realized  here,  they  are  the  harw<t  tK>  n  the  sowing 
of  the  early  years.  There  have  been  changes,  but  none  such 
as  to  separate  the  present  from  the  past,  in  identity  or  char- 
acter. 

Others,  again,  who  look  back  to  the  time  when  the  place  was 
new,  and  all,  students  and  colonists,  shared  in  the  enthusiasm  of 
a  new  enterprise — when  the  ideas  which  have  been  elaborated 
here  were  fresh,  and  all  circumstances  conspired  to  a  high 
degree  of  intensity  of  thought  and  action,  feel  the  absence  of 
that  intensity — a  sort  of  spiritual  electricity  with  which  the 
very  atmosphere  was  charged.  They  have,  perhaps,  not  well 
considered  the  question,  whether  such  a  state  is  possible  to  any 
people  in  perpetuity,  or  is  a  permanent  normal  condition  of  life. 
Must  it  not  be  the  result  of  forces  which  are,  in  their  very 
nature,  transitory?  and  is  it  probable  that  such  forces  can 
ever  be  concentrated  here  again  ?  The  kind  of  unity  of  action 
•which  was  secured  when  the  people  were  few,  and  every  one 
knew  his  neighbor's  outer  and  inner  life,  can  never  be  restored. 
On  many  accounts  it  would  seem  desirable  that  the  place  should 
never  have  outgrown  the  capacity  of  a  single  house  of  worship, 
or  extended  beyond  the  attraction  of  a  single  social  centre. 
Thus  the  same  ideas  and  impulses  would  be  diffused  throughout 
the  body,  and  all  would  contribute  immediately  to  one  result, 
uch  a  unity  would  be  impossible  to  us  now,  even  if  all  were 
'•of  one  heart  and  one  soul."  There  must  henceforth  be  various 
centres  of  influence;  diverse  impulses  and  ideas,  different,  but, 
it  may  be  hoped,  not  conflicting,  must  prevail  among  the  peoj-lc. 
This  is  inevitable,  and  should  not  be  regretted ;  but  it  precludes 
that  concentration  of  thought  and  feeling  which  was  a  char- 


68 

acteristic  of  the  early  tirnss.  These  altered  conditions  require 
a  diffusion  of  influences  and  activities  to  reach  the  entire  com- 
munity, and  render  it  impossible  for  one  thought  to  regulate  or 
control  the  whole. 

That  reaction  of  the  world  without,  upon  the  place,  which 
tended  to  stir  up  the  energies  and  arouse  to  action,  has  to  a 
great  extent  passed  away,  and  its  restoration  is  not  to  be  de- 
sired. It  is,  on  the  whole,  better  that  we  should  be  known  for 
what  we  are,  and  be  permitted  to  pursue  our  work  in  peace, 
even  at  the  risk  of  losing  something  of  the  stimulus  which  the 
old  antagonism  afforded.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  Oberlin  is 
becoming  popular,  and  that  this  popularity  is  corrupting.  The 
probability  is  that  danger  in  this  direction  is  not  imminent. 
The  most  that  we  can  expect  is,  that  the  world  around  will  ac- 
cord to  us  the  privilege  of  living,  and  of  enjoying  in  quietness 
our  modicum  of  good  and  evil,  not  requiring  us  to  be  better 
than  other  people,  nor  insisting  upon  it  that  we  are  worse. 
That  sort  of  respect,  implying  a  conviction  that  the  Institution 
and  the  place  are  a  power  in  the  land,  and  must  be  counted,  in 
a  general  inventory  of  facts  and  forces,  we  have  frequent  indi- 
cations of;  but  the  confession  is  often  accompanied  by  a  sneer, 
which  affords  no  prospect  of  popularity.  You  may  take  the 
gauge  of  the  general  current  of  feeling  upon  the  subject,  from  a 
quiet  corner  in  the  cars,  when  the  brakeman  announces,  "  Ober- 
lin." Many  heads  will  turn  to  get  a  view  of  the  interesting 
landscape.  Some  look  in  silence  ;  others  indulge  in  a  ventila- 
tion of  their  wit,  for  the  edification  of  the  company,  and  any 
stray  Oberlinite  that  it  may  chance  to  embrace.  It  is  easy  to 
discover  that  the  place  enjoys  some  notoriety,  but  its  popularity 
is  still  dubious.  The  latest  testimony  upon  this  point  which  I 
have  personally  encountered,  was  offered  a  few  weeks  since  in 
a  car  containing  some  of  the  delegates  returning  from  the  Na- 
tional Republican  Convention.  The  wit  who  achieved  the  de- 
liverance, bore  on  his  hat  the  Seward  badge,  although  the  nom- 
ination had  transpired  some  days  before.  "  Oberlin!"  he  says 
— "  the  largest  place  of  its  size  in  all  the  country — capital  of 
the  state  of  Ohio — more  land  to  the  acre  than  in  any  other  re- 
gion— the  people  are  negroes  and  some  whites — but  the  Seward 
men  are  very  respectable  folks."  This  may  be  taken  as  an  ex- 


69 

pression  of  the  average  of  current  sentiment,  as  it  flows  along 
our  thoroughfare,  and  may  serve  to  allay  any  apprehension  that 
Oberlin  is  to  be  imperiled  by  over-much  public  favor.  Still,  its 
relations  to  the  world  are  so  changed  that  the  pressure  of  op- 
probrium is  removed,  and  one  of  the  energizing  forces  is  thus 
withdrav 

While  it  is  true  then,  that  with  the  change  of  outward  cir- 
cumstances and  relations,  there  must  necessarily  be  an  abate- 
ment from  the  intensity  which  characterized  Oberlin  in  its 
youth,  it  is  still  true  that  the  earnest  hearts  are  here  upon  whom 
the  old  inspiration  fell,  with  hands  ready  for  the  same  good 
work.  AVitli  a  few  honored  exceptions,  the  men  who  bore  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  day — preachers  and  teachers  and  colo- 
nists— affording  in  their  varied  characters,  such  a  blending  of 
ardor  and  discretion,  of  zeal  and  wisdom  and  fidelity,  as  have 
made  the  past  bright  with  success,  in  spite  of  many  imperfec- 
tions— these  are  unchanged,  except  as  the  passing  years  have 
laid  gently  u|K>n  their  heads,  the  good  man's  "crown  of  glory." 
Associated  with  these  are  others,  brought  up  at  their  feet,  ready 
tJstay  up  their  hands,  glad  to  be  counted  worthy  of  a  share  in 
the  work.  The  good  men  and  women  who  have  been  with  us 
and  have  passed  away — the  living  and  the  dead,  have  left  a  savor 
of  their  goodness  as  a  heritage.  All  the  precious  associations  to 
which  the  past  twenty-five  years  have  given  birth,  remain,  a  vi- 
ta) force,  surrounding  every  new-comer,  as  an  impalpable  at- 
mosphere, to  inspire  him  with  a  love  for  the  things  which  are 
44  pure  and  honest  and  of  good  report."  The  early  students, 
with  their  earnest  hearts,  are  gone,  and  our  halls  are  filled  with 
a  new  generation  ;  but  to  a  great  extent  they  are  worthy  suc- 
cessors— children  after  the  flesh  and  after  the  spirit,  of  those 
who  have  preceded  them.  It  is  true  that  the  first-born  of  the 
chold,  in  a  new  country,  nly  do  sturdy  work,  mid 

acquire  an  early  rous  manhood  ;    but  those   that  come 

afurwar  ;ime.s  exl*ihit  accomplishment*  which  were  be- 

reach  of  their  predecessors.     In   the  eyes  of  sen 

parents,  they  are  equally  precious.     But  more  than  all,  the  God 

before  whom  our  fathers  walked,  the  God  who  has  guarded 

Oberlin  all  along  until  this  day,  the  Angel  that  has  redeemed  it 

all  evil,  is  still  our  God—rich  in  mercy  unto  all  that  call 


70 

upon  him.  Amid  all  changes  he  is  unchanged,  and  thus  "  the 
foundation  standeth  sure."  There  is  every  encouragement  then 
to  go  forward  with  the  work.  That  work  is  not  completed — 
it  is  merely  begun.  The  "  grand  object"  lies  out  before  us  to- 
day, as  it  opened  to  the  mind  of  Father  Shipherd,  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  when  he  announced  it  to  be,  "  the 
diffusion  of  useful  science,  sound  morality  and  pure  religion, 
among  the  growing  multitudes  of  the  Mississippi  Valley." 
And  as  he  opened  his  first  "  annual  report"  with  the  cheerful 
exclamation — "  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us,"  so  let  us  in- 
scribe upon  the  memorial  stone  which  we  erect  to-day,  the 
same  grateful  tribute — HITHERTO  HATH  THE  LORD  HELPED  us. 


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